X37-B Launch On Wednesday

Conor108

From Af.mil -
The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle will provide a flexible space test platform to conduct various experiments and allow satellite sensors, subsystems, components and associated technology to be efficiently transported to and from the space environment where it will need to function.

Shame the USAF made it unmanned when they took it off NASA. It planned to launch from an Atlas V on Wednesday, anyone know if the launch will be on NASA tv?



Has an on-orbit requirement of 270 days according to a USAF spokesperson quote on wikipedia!

USAF Story
Wikipedia Page

lord lucan

Check out http://www.spaceflightnow.com/, they usually show Delta/Atlas launches live.

lord lucan

This has been put back to the early hours of Friday morning. Launch window opens at 00.52 and closes at 01.01 on Friday morning. This is due to Discovery's delay in getting home.

ynotdu

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=+2]U.S. Air Force's X-37B space shuttle reaches launch pad[/SIZE][/FONT]

An Atlas 5 rocket was rolled to its Cape Canaveral pad this morning for Thursday's launch of the U.S. military's experimental X-37B spaceplane, the prototype for an unmanned reusable space shuttle.
as LLsaid it will be early Friday in Ireland.

Beeker

Launch set for 23:52 Irish time tonight. Not sure if NASA TV are covering the launch, they have no listing for it. Have to try Spaceflightnews.com

ynotdu

Proably too late for most but i jut found it!http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Webcast.shtml


Quick update,there is a delay,all a bit confused at the moment (23.51)Irish time:

e countdown to the launch of an Atlas V rocket just hit a snag but mission managers at this point are pressing ahead while engineers troubleshoot a problem with a ground support computer.An electrical engineer just reported that a computer that collects accelerometer data from the Atlas V's RD-180 first-stage engine is not working properly.Engineers are trouble-shooting the problem but they have not been able to re-establish communications with the accelerometers through the computer.An anomaly team is being set up and will be making a recommendation to launch managers. It's unclear at this point whether this might be a show-stopper. Stay tuned.Get space launch text message alerts at floridatoday.com/text

ynotdu

Listening to the audio it seems they will decide in 15 minutes if they have to scrub,it is currently T-20 minutes and counting.http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ unlike normally the refresh button has to be hit to see the live video.

Ghost Train

video here now too
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av012/status.html

t-11minutes

Ghost Train

t-8

will there be a hold to delay it till 0:51?

Ghost Train

t-4

20 minute hold

ynotdu

Ghost Train wrote: »

t-4

20 minute hold

Hi Ghost Train,yes they decided the problem is not a launch constraint and as You say,Launch will be eight minutes to the hour.

ALL this secrecy:eek:

The Real start of the militarisation of Space begins:(

Did You just hear Mission Control say at the request of the customer coverage will stop 20 minutes after Launch?

digme

Will we see it?

Ghost Train

Hi, yep was just reading up about it there

Thursday's Atlas launch will enter a news blackout after the rocket's Centaur upper stage completes its first burn about 17 minutes after liftoff. Any subsequent Centaur firings and deployment of the X-37B will not be announced.

"You can't hide a space launch," Payton said. "The main thing we want to emphasize is the vehicle itself, not so much what's going on during the on-orbit experimental phase. The vehicle itself is the piece of news here."

ynotdu

Final poll
complete,all are GO's. Countdown just restarted from T-4 mark,

Update:Launch occured on time@ 00.52 Irish time.

Update:Main Engine Cut Off occured after a 12 minute 27 second burn.

Update:The payload seperated sucessfully 20 Minutes after launch.

Live coverage stopped just after that point.

So Americas NEW STS programme just begun with much more sinister intent than the Civilian one just about to retire.

We will not be privvy to any further information at all about this programme.

Always there is SOME method in peoples madness,another clue as to why NASA has effectivly been closed down.

ynotdu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKKgmqxjCM8

ynotdu

Scruff

interesting article here that speculates on the military uses for the x37 or a larger successor (resurrect the x33 perhaps?) and how similar military requirements for the Shuttle compromised its civilian efficiency.