[AZ-Observing] Fwd: [Launch Alert] Friday Vandenberg AFB Launch
- From: Skylook123@xxxxxxx
- To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 26 Oct 2011 02:28:23 -0400 (EDT)
If you are having trouble sleeping Thursday night/Friday morning, take a
look Westward for the launch of NASA's NPOESS Preparatory Project, plus a
cluster of cube-sats for research. Launch window opens at 2:48:01 AM
Friday,
for 9 minutes and 10 seconds.
Jim O'Connor
South Rim Coordinator
Grand Canyon Star Party
gcsp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
____________________________________
From: launch-alert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Reply-to: launch-alert-editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: launch-alert@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 10/25/2011 11:06:09 P.M. US Mountain Standard Tim
Subj: [Launch Alert] Friday Vandenberg AFB Launch
LAUNCH ALERT
Brian Webb
Ventura County, California
launch-alert-editor@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
www.spacearchive.info
2011 October 25 (Tuesday) 18:55 PDT
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NPP SATELLITE READY FOR LAUNCH
NASA Media Advisory
2011 October 25
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- The launch of the NPOESS
Preparatory Project (NPP) satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance
Delta II rocket is scheduled for Friday, Oct. 28. Liftoff from NASA's
Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB), Calif., is
targeted during a nine-minute ten second launch window that opens at
2:48:01 a.m. PDT (5:48:01 a.m. EDT). The spacecraft's final circular
polar orbit will be 512 miles (824 kilometers) at an inclination of 98
degrees.
NPP, a NASA Earth-observing satellite, represents a critical first
step in building the next-generation of U.S. polar-orbiting climate
and weather monitoring spacecraft. NPP is the bridge between NASA's
Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites and the forthcoming series of
Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) satellites. The mission will test
key technologies and instruments for the JPSS missions.
The second of NASA's Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa,
missions also will be launched on the Delta II. These auxiliary
payloads are small satellites called CubeSats. Each is designed and
created by university and college students. Five satellites will be
deployed on ELaNa-2.
PRELAUNCH NEWS CONFERENCE
Wednesday, Oct. 26: The prelaunch news conference will be held from 1
to 3 p.m. PDT (4 to 6 p.m. EDT) in the second floor conference room of
the NASA Vandenberg Resident Office, Building 840, at Vandenberg Air
Force Base. The briefing will be carried live on NASA Television with
question-and-answer capability available from other NASA field
centers.
Participants in the prelaunch news conference will be:
Andrew Carson, NPP program executive
NASA Headquarters
Tim Dunn, NASA launch director
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
Vernon Thorp, program manager, NASA missions
United Launch Alliance, Denver, Colo.
Ken Schwer, NPP project manager
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
2d Lt. Lisa Cochran, Launch Weather Officer, 30th Operations Support
Squadron
Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.
NPP/ELaNa MISSION SCIENCE BRIEFINGS
Immediately following the prelaunch news conference will be an NPP
Mission Science Briefing. Presenting the mission science objectives
will be:
Jim Gleason, NPP project scientist
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Mitch Goldberg, NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System Program Scientist
NOAA Satellite and Information Service, Silver Spring, Md.
Immediately following the NPP Mission Science Briefing will be an
ELaNa CubeSat briefing. Participating will be:
Roland Coelho , P-POD Program Lead
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Garrett Skrobot, ELaNa mission manager
NASA Launch Services Program, Kennedy Space Center
NASA TELEVISION COVERAGE
NASA Television will carry the prelaunch news conference and mission
science briefing starting at 1 p.m. PDT (4 p.m. EDT) on Wednesday,
Oct. 26. The prelaunch news conference also will be webcast at:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
On launch day, Oct. 28, NASA TV commentary coverage of the countdown
will begin at 12:01 a.m. PDT (3:01 a.m. EDT). Liftoff is targeted for
2:48:01 a.m. PDT (5:48:01 a.m. EDT). Spacecraft separation from the
Delta II occurs 58 minutes 45 seconds after launch.
For information on receiving NASA TV, go to:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html
WEB COVERAGE
Launch coverage of the Delta II NPP countdown activities will be
available on the NASA website by going to the home page at:
http://www.nasa.gov
Live countdown coverage on NASA's launch blog begins at 12:01 a.m. PDT
(3:01 a.m. EDT). Coverage features real-time updates of countdown
milestones, as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch
preparations and liftoff.
To access these features, go to NASA's NPP mission website at:
http://www.nasa.gov/npp
The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. is responsible
for the project management of NPP. Ball Aerospace and Technologies
Corporation of Boulder, Co built the NPP satellite. NASA's Launch
Services Program at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida
provides launch management. United Launch Alliance of Denver, Colo.,
is NASA's launch service provider of the Delta II 7920.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECONDARY PAYLOADS
In addition to carrying the NPP satellite into orbit, the Delta II
booster will also launch the following university satellites as
secondary payloads:
Satellite: AubieSat-1
Organization: Auburn University
Downlink Freq: 437.475 MHz
Transmit Power: 0.708W
Protocol: Morse Code
Baud Rate: 20wpm
Satellites: DICE (two satellites)
Organization: Utah State University
Downlink Freq: 465 MHz
http://www.sdl.edu/programs/dice
Satellite: Explorer-1 [PRIME] Flight Unit 2
Organization: Montana State University
Downlink Freq: 437.505 MHz
Transmit Power: 0.85W
Protocol: AX.25 FSK
Baud Rate: 1200
http://ssel.montana.edu/e1p/
Satellite: M-Cubed
Organization: University of Michigan
Downlink Freq: 437.485MHz
Transmit Power: < 1W
Protocol: GMSK
Baud Rate: 9600
http://umcubed.org/
Satellite: RAX-2
Organization: University of Michigan
Downlink Freq: 437.345 MHz
Modulation: GMSK
Baud Rate: 9600
http://rax.engin.umich.edu/
As many of you have probably noticed, most of these satellites
transmit in the 70 cm amateur radio band. Thanks to Justin Foley for
providing most of the above information.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LAUNCH VISIBILITY
If the sky is clear, the first few minutes of Friday's launch could be
visible as far away as Point Arena and Sacramento, Calif; Reno and Las
Vegas, Nev; Tucson, Ariz; and Hermosillo, Mexico.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LAUNCH AND COUNTDOWN STATUS
For launch and countdown status for the Delta II/NPP launch, consult
the following sources:
Web Sites with Countdown Status:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d357/status.html
http://www.nasa.gov
http://www.nasa.gov/npp
Webcasts:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/pages/Multimedia_Webcast.shtml
Twitter Updates:
http://twitter.com/spaceflightnow/
http://twitter.com/30thSpaceWing
----------------------------------------------------------------------
RESOURCES
For additional information related to the Delta II/NPP launch launch,
go to the following locations:
Launch Vehicle
http://boeing.com/defense-space/space/delta/delta2/delta2.htm
Payload
http://npp.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Mission
http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/docs/missionbooklets/DII
/dii_npp_mob.PDF
Launch Pad
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Vandenberg_AFB_Space_Launch_Complex_2
Launch Viewing
http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbview.htm
Photographing Launches
http://www.spacearchive.info/vafbphoto.htm
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2011, Brian Webb. All rights reserved. No portion of this
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