Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch, Launch through Orbit Discussion |
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch, Launch through Orbit Discussion |
Guest_Zvezdichko_* |
Jun 18 2009, 09:17 PM
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#31
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Guests |
... which are MAKING MONEY!
LRO launch isn't certain... We hope that the skies will clear, but it's not sure... |
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Jun 18 2009, 09:18 PM
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#32
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Solar System Cartographer Group: Members Posts: 10128 Joined: 5-April 05 From: Canada Member No.: 227 |
Looking good now for 5:32. The LROC site says they've launched - they didn't update the launch time!
Phil -------------------- ... because the Solar System ain't gonna map itself.
Also to be found posting similar content on https://mastodon.social/@PhilStooke NOTE: everything created by me which I post on UMSF is considered to be in the public domain (NOT CC, public domain) |
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Guest_Zvezdichko_* |
Jun 18 2009, 09:24 PM
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#33
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Guests |
Launch team polled. LRO is go for launch!
Proceeding with count! |
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Jun 18 2009, 09:37 PM
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#34
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Member Group: Members Posts: 443 Joined: 1-July 05 From: New York City Member No.: 424 |
I've seen rocket cams before, but never on a NASA-TV live broadcast of a launch. Thrilling.
TTT |
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Jun 18 2009, 09:38 PM
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#35
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Member Group: Members Posts: 443 Joined: 1-July 05 From: New York City Member No.: 424 |
And now we've had shot of the payload under the fairing. Amazing. Think of the rocket engineers who went through their careers without ever seeing a shot like that.
TTT |
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Guest_Zvezdichko_* |
Jun 18 2009, 09:49 PM
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#36
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Guests |
MECO! Main engine cutoff!
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Jun 18 2009, 09:50 PM
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#37
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Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 2785 Joined: 10-November 06 From: Pasadena, CA Member No.: 1345 |
That rocket cam shot rising through the clouds was awesome!
-------------------- Some higher resolution images available at my photostream: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/
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Jun 18 2009, 09:56 PM
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#38
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
I'm actually in Florida, so I went out on the balcony to look, but I'm afraid we're just a bit too far away to see it from here. Maybe if it had been a night launch. Still, it was cool to follow it online.
--Greg |
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Guest_Zvezdichko_* |
Jun 18 2009, 10:20 PM
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#39
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Guests |
LRO just successfully separated from the rocket! Congratulations all!
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Jun 18 2009, 10:21 PM
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#40
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Forum Contributor Group: Members Posts: 1372 Joined: 8-February 04 From: North East Florida, USA. Member No.: 11 |
Separation .
I too tried to see it but it launched due east. I can see the shuttle when it goes NE but East is no good. |
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Jun 18 2009, 10:21 PM
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#41
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 1018 Joined: 29-November 05 From: Seattle, WA, USA Member No.: 590 |
Looks good. Next significant news will be Lunar Orbit insertion on Tuesday morning at 5:43 a.m. EDT (0943 GMT).
From Spaceflight Now "T+plus 44 minutes, 45 seconds. SPACECRAFT SEPARATION! The Centaur upper stage has deployed the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on its direct trajectory for the Moon. " http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av020/status.html --Greg |
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Guest_Sunspot_* |
Jun 18 2009, 10:25 PM
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#42
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Guests |
It seems so weird to read that LRO will reach its destination Tuesday morning,, we usually have many months or even years to wait for that.
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Guest_Zvezdichko_* |
Jun 18 2009, 10:26 PM
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#43
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Guests |
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Jun 19 2009, 12:53 AM
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#44
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
It seems so weird to read that LRO will reach its destination Tuesday morning,, we usually have many months or even years to wait for that. Naw... I can remember watching Ranger IX's launch, and then watching the pictures from its video cameras come streaming in "live from the Moon" three days later. And, of course, I'm used to this kind of timing from all those Apollo flights. I suppose that when you are limited to relatively small boosters and need to get as much mass out to the Moon as you can for the least number of ergs expended, it makes sense to run orbits out farther and farther and to arrive at the Moon months after launch. (That does have its own costs, of course, not least of which is the repeated passage of your probe through the most energetic portions of Earth's Van Allen belts.) But if you have a heavy-lift booster, it can make sense to just get out there as fast as you reasonably can. I also imagine that LCROSS needs a fairly fast approach to create the big, looping orbits it needs to achieve its desired impact geometry. All told, I imagine this mission simply requires the faster, more direct translunar trajectory. I'm glad she's off, though, and I'm glad we'll be seeing high-res images of old familiar places (plus new, exciting places) very soon. At least partially as an accident of my birthdate, I've become quite fascinated with lunar geology -- I'm really looking forward to some of the really kewl things we're about to see! -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
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Jun 19 2009, 03:08 AM
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#45
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Member Group: Members Posts: 753 Joined: 23-October 04 From: Greensboro, NC USA Member No.: 103 |
I was playing around with the spreadsheet of the LRO priority targets. I found it interesting to do a sort on the priorities...25 Priority 1 targets, 1800+ Priority 2 targets, and 4400+ Priority 3 targets! I really appreciated the detail in the spreadsheet regarding why certain targets were identified as highest priority. It wasn't necessarily just to do with possible ice or potential for a lunar outpost, but many of the Priority 1 targets were suspected either to be the youngest or the oldest areas on the surface of the Moon.
-------------------- Jonathan Ward
Manning the LCC at http://www.apollolaunchcontrol.com |
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