Orion Launch Today

[Gandahar]

Eric Mc said:

Gandahar said:

This is nothing, when the first space shuttle went up I seem to recall it was delay after delay.

The first Shuttle was delayed three years from its original date in 1978. However, the ACTUAL launch of Columbia on 12 April 1981 was carried out only two days after the initial planned launch on 10 April 1981 was cancelled due to problems with the on board computers. So there was technically only one scrubbed launch for STS-1

So, there wasn't scrub after scrub.

Of course, later Shuttle launches had far more scrubs than the very first one.

Thanks Eric, I guess to a 13 year old boy the 2 day wait was an eternity !

[Gandahar]

I have to say, it was nice watching the rocket even sitting on the launchpad, from some angles it reminded me much of the Saturn rockets etc.

It does make me chuckle when they have to put the launch on hold because someone in a boat is just off the coast. Bet they do not have that problem at Baikonur, probably have subs patrolling the river, topedoes armed.

[Eric Mc]

Gandahar said:

Thanks Eric, I guess to a 13 year old boy the 2 day wait was an eternity !

I wouldn't know. I was almost 23 at the time.

The first launch was set for a Friday. I took a long lunch break from work to watch it in a local pub. Nobody in the pub was aware the launch was happening. When I asked the barman if he could turn on the TV he said, "Why, is their horse racing on today?". This was in Longford, Ireland.

As I said, the launch didn't actually happen that day. It finally went ahead on the Sunday and I watched it on TV at home.

[Eric Mc]

Just confirmed that the launch window for today is identical to yesterday's.

Fueling of the rocket will begin shortly.

[jmorgan]

@rse. Have to go to work today.

[djdestiny]

Just found this thread, I too am a big fan of space/NASA and everything related.
I'm 42 and missed out on seeing the moon landings and Apollo program, which I'm gutted of!
My parents have both told me how amazing it was to watch.

I had followed the shuttle launches, and August 1988 (I was 16) we went to Florida and I begged for a day at KSC which I was lucky enough to get.
Myself and my brother have been following everything space related and love it all!

We both pray for either moon or mars missions in our lifetime, and this is obviously a step towards them

Ive really got my fingers crossed for a 12:05GMT launch as I have to leave for work at 12:30...

[Simpo Two]

Eric Mc said:

Orion is the spacecraft/capsule. Are you talking about the Delta IV booster?

Guess so. It shows how little one absorbs from everyday media.

If NASA (or whoever's launching it, I'm not entirely sure now) were any good at branding they'd call it Saturn VI

If you have heritage, use it!

[CrutyRammers]

Mornin' all.
According to the commentary, the valves stuck because they were immersed in the cold liquid gas for too long.
So if that boat hadn't been in the way, they'd have probably got off fine.

Now I'm fully aware that it's easy to say and hard to do...but one would have thought that a valve which is designed to be immersed in liquid gas would be designed to work for some hours longer than the longest possible hold - especially on something so critical. Maybe just not possible with current materials.

[scubadude]

CrutyRammers said:

Now I'm fully aware that it's easy to say and hard to do...but one would have thought that a valve which is designed to be immersed in liquid gas would be designed to work for some hours longer than the longest possible hold - especially on something so critical. Maybe just not possible with current materials.

Now I'm fully aware that it's easy to say and hard to do...but one would have thought that in this day an age idiots would know not to sail into a rocket launching range safety area :-)

[CrutyRammers]

I'm holding NASA engineers to a higher standard than general idiots with boats

[Eric Mc]

CrutyRammers said:

Mornin' all.
According to the commentary, the valves stuck because they were immersed in the cold liquid gas for too long.
So if that boat hadn't been in the way, they'd have probably got off fine.

Now I'm fully aware that it's easy to say and hard to do...but one would have thought that a valve which is designed to be immersed in liquid gas would be designed to work for some hours longer than the longest possible hold - especially on something so critical. Maybe just not possible with current materials.

The launch window for this particular flight is MUCH longer than for most launches - purely because the spacecraft is not being aimed at a specific target in space. Therefore, the valves in the Delta were immersed in a cold environment for a longer period than would have been envisaged when the rocket was originally designed.

There are no plans to use a Delta IV Heavy for any further Orion flights. The next scheduled flight EM-1 will use an early version of the SLS.

[Eric Mc]

CrutyRammers said:

I'm holding NASA engineers to a higher standard than general idiots with boats

The Delta was not designed by NASA engineers. It was designed by the company who build the Delta rocket - which is now Boeing.

[Eric Mc]

Simpo Two said:

Guess so. It shows how little one absorbs from everyday media.

If NASA (or whoever's launching it, I'm not entirely sure now) were any good at branding they'd call it Saturn VI

If you have heritage, use it!

It's most definitely a NASA programme with overall control and management of the programme being in the hands of NASA. But just like Apollo, Gemini and Mercury before, a lot of the pad support and engineering is carried out by contractors. The current main contractor is United Launch Alliance (ULA) which is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed-Martin.

[CrutyRammers]

Eric Mc said:

The Delta was not designed by NASA engineers. It was designed by the company who build the Delta rocket - which is now Boeing.

Yeah it was a generic term for space-boffins
Fair point about the launch window, I don't actually know how long they are for satellite launches etc. Obviously pretty tight for something like rendevous with ISS, but not sure for a general satellite. I guess they will want to make sure it's well clear of any others.

[Gandahar]

Eric Mc said:

Gandahar said:

Thanks Eric, I guess to a 13 year old boy the 2 day wait was an eternity !

I wouldn't know. I was almost 23 at the time.

The first launch was set for a Friday. I took a long lunch break from work to watch it in a local pub. Nobody in the pub was aware the launch was happening. When I asked the barman if he could turn on the TV he said, "Why, is their horse racing on today?". This was in Longford, Ireland.

As I said, the launch didn't actually happen that day. It finally went ahead on the Sunday and I watched it on TV at home.

It was me who was 13

Nice story. I thought nearly everyone watched it? Biggest thing since Apollo of course at the time.

[Gandahar]

25mph winds for the launch window, still seems good to go though.

[Eric Mc]

Gandahar said:

It was me who was 13

Nice story. I thought nearly everyone watched it? Biggest thing since Apollo of course at the time.

Sorry.

Being stuck out in the sticks of rural Ireland in the early 80s, I wasn't completely surprised that nobody was that aware of what NASA was up to. They generally only turned on TVs in pubs for horse racing or Gaelic Football matches.

[anonymous-user]

Looking good for launch!

[Gandahar]

Eric Mc said:

Gandahar said:

It was me who was 13

Nice story. I thought nearly everyone watched it? Biggest thing since Apollo of course at the time.

Sorry.

Being stuck out in the sticks of rural Ireland in the early 80s, I wasn't completely surprised that nobody was that aware of what NASA was up to. They generally only turned on TVs in pubs for horse racing or Gaelic Football matches.

Apparently it is still the same.

When RyanAir land at Dublin the captain asks everyone to turn their watches back 20 years.

[djdestiny]

Stream seems to of gone down
BBC News and Sky News have it live though, Id rather be listening to the engineers than the news idiot though!