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THIS IS TODAY,S SCHEDULED LAUNCH FROM CAPE CANAVERAL May 17th Atlas 5 • USSF 7/OTV-6
Launch time: Approx. 13:14pm GMT (
9:14am)
Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
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https://youtu.be/DRf2MTAlQTo United Launch Alliance’s live launch broadcast begins at 8:55 a.m. EDT (12:55 GMT) Saturday, May 17.05/17/2020 04:27The countdown started for today's Atlas 5 launch at 1:54 a.m. EDT (0554 GMT).
The countdown sequence, more than seven hours long, will include two built-in holds at T-minus 2 hours and T-minus 4 minutes. A final poll during the second built-in hold at T-minus 4 minutes will give authorization to begin the terminal countdown.
Liftoff is set for 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT) from Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad.The first tasks for the Atlas 5 launch team this morning involved powering on the rocket for pre-flight testing. Then the team then moved into preparations on the Centaur upper stage's liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellant systems. A test of the Atlas 5's guidance system, first stage propulsion and hydraulic checks, internal battery testing, verification of the readiness of the rocket's GPS metric tracking system and a test of the launcher's S-band telemetry transmitters were also planned in the early stages of the countdown.
The launch team will be polled for approval to begin fueling the rocket during a pre-planned hold at T-minus 2 hours. Once the team gives the "go" for fueling, liquid oxygen will be pumped into the Centaur upper stage, followed by liquid oxygen into the Atlas 5 first stage. The step-by-step propellant loading procedure will conclude with super-cold liquid hydrogen fuel flowing into the Centaur.
05/17/2020 04:31ULA says the first weather briefing of the countdown continued to show a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions for launch of the Atlas 5 rocket 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT).
The winds are lighter today than yesterday, and the atmosphere is significantly drier over Florida's Space Coast as the weather system that brought the rain showers to the area yesterday -- now strengthened to form Tropical Storm Arthur -- moves northeast away from Cape Canaveral.
05/17/2020 04:34The ULA launch team has completed preps on the Atlas 5's Centaur upper stage liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen systems ahead of propellant loading later in the countdown.
05/17/2020 04:43Tory Bruno, ULA's chief executive, says things are looking better for launch today than yesterday.
TWITTER MESSAGETory Bruno
✔
@torybruno
Looking better today. Tropical Storm Arthur is moving off. Pgo at 70%. Everyone’s calming thoughts are working. Let’s get this bird in the air. #USSF7
207
4:06 AM - May 17, 2020
05/17/2020 06:06T-minus 2 hours, 8 minutes and counting. The Atlas 5 countdown is ticking toward a 30-minute built-in hold at T-minus 2 hours, when teams will give the "go" to begin cryogenic tanking.
Earlier in the countdown, the Atlas 5 team completed guidance system testing on the rocket. ULA also performed hydraulic system preparations, including engine steering checks.
05/17/2020 06:08Other activities in the early stages of today's countdown have included testing of the Atlas 5's GPS metric tracking system, which is used to track the rocket's flight downrange with the aid of navigation satellites.
05/17/2020 06:08Teams have completed hold fire checks to verify their ability to halt the countdown just before launch in the event of a problem.
05/17/2020 06:09With their final hands-on work accomplished, technicians have departed the Complex 41 launch pad and heading to a fall-back position a safe distance away. This evacuation is a key step before the Atlas 5 is filled with cryogenic propellants.
05/17/2020 06:14T-minus 2 hours and holding. This is a pre-programmed hold expected to last 30 minutes.
During this 30-minute hold, the ULA launch team at the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center will be polled for their readiness to pick up the countdown and begin cryogenic tanking of the Atlas booster and Centaur upper stage.
The countdown's final pre-planned pause is scheduled for T-minus 4 minutes.
05/17/2020 06:40ULA launch conductor Dillon Rice has briefed his team on countdown procedures as the Atlas 5 countdowasn is about to enter the final two hours before liftoff.
Launch weather officer Jessica Williams provided an updated forecast a little earlier in the countdown. She now predicts an 80 percent chance of favorable weather at launch time. The only minor concerns are with cumulus clouds and ground winds.
05/17/2020 06:44T-minus 2 hours and counting. The countdown clock is ticking again, as the ULA launch team marches toward liftoff of an Atlas 5 rocket at 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT) with the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane.
There is one more built-in hold in today's countdown, expected at T-minus 4 minutes.
A thermal conditioning procedure known as chilldown will begin shortly to prepare the plumbing on the Atlas 5's mobile launch platform for the transfer of super-cold cryogenic propellants into the rocket.
Once cryogenic tanking begins, nearly 66,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen will be loaded into the two-stage Atlas 5 rocket.
05/17/2020 06:50We're covering this morning's countdown from the Kennedy Space Center, around 4 miles from the Atlas 5 launch pad.
Good morning from the Kennedy Space Center, where skies are cloudy but winds are much lighter than yesterday.
A few miles away, ULA’s 84th Atlas 5 rocket is being prepared for launch at 9:14am EDT (1314 GMT) with the military’s X-37B spaceplane.
https://t.co/1oomiQJMsH pic.twitter.com/qamo6KCPdp
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) May 17, 2020
05/17/2020 06:51Liquid oxygen is now flowing into the Atlas 5's Centaur upper stage at Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad. About 4,150 gallons of the cryogenic propellant, chilled to minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit, will be burned by the Centaur's single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine along with the liquid hydrogen to be loaded aboard later in the countdown.
The Centaur's RL10 engine will inject the X-37B spaceplane into low Earth orbit on today's flight. Military officials have not disclosed the exact target orbital parameters for today's mission.
05/17/2020 06:52Members of the Atlas 5 launch team inside the Atlas Spaceflight Operations Center, or ASOC, have reported they are ready to proceed with cryogenic tanking during a pre-fueling readiness poll.
Other teams supporting today's launch are located in Hangar AE -- located in the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station industrial area -- where U.S. Space Force and Aerospace Corp. officials are on station. Range officials are on console in the Morrell Operations Center near the southern edge of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
05/17/2020 06:55VIEW IMAGEhttps://photo.24liveblog.com/2521801603424713885/20200517105529_547405.png05/17/2020 06:59The Centaur liquid oxygen tank is now 20 percent full.
05/17/2020 07:0850 percent of the Centaur's liquid oxygen capacity has been loaded.
05/17/2020 07:11The Centaur liquid oxygen tank is now 75 percent full.
05/17/2020 07:12Chilldown of the liquid hydrogen transfer lines at Complex 41 is getting started now. This is a step in preparation for loading the super-cold fuel, stored at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, into the Centaur upper stage.
05/17/2020 07:14T-minus 1 hour, 28 minutes and counting. Chilldown conditioning of the systems for the first stage liquid oxygen tank has been accomplished. The launch team just gave a "go" to begin loading super-cold liquid oxygen into the Atlas 5's first stage.
05/17/2020 07:17The Centaur liquid oxygen tank is now being topped off after reaching the 96.4 percent full mark.
05/17/2020 07:20Tory Bruno, ULA's chief executive, tweets that everything is going smoothly in this morning's countdown.
TWITTER MESSAGE
The board is green. The count is going as smooth as the laminar flow in our propellant feed system. #USSF7
— Tory Bruno (@torybruno) May 17, 2020
05/17/2020 07:24After initially pumping liquid oxygen into the Atlas 5's first stage in a slow-fill mode, the cryogenic oxidizer is now being pumped into the rocket in the fast-fill mode.
The Atlas 5's first stage is also known as the Common Core Booster, and it holds 48,800 gallons of liquid oxygen, which will be consumed by the RD-180 main engine in a mixture with RP-1 kerosene loaded into the rocket yesterday.
05/17/2020 07:25ULA is convening an anomaly team -- the group charged with investigating issues during launch countdowns -- to study a potential issue involving the Atlas 5's first stage liquid oxygen system.
05/17/2020 07:27The payload on this morning's Atlas 5 launch is the X-37B spaceplane, a Boeing-built reusable vehicle shrouded in secrecy. This marks the sixth flight of an X-37B spaceship in orbit.
The unpiloted spacecraft launches inside a payload shroud on top of a conventional rocket, unfurls a power-generating solar array in orbit to generate electricity, and returns to Earth for a runway landing like NASA’s retired space shuttle.
“This sixth mission is a big step for the X-37B program,” said Randy Walden, director and program executive officer for the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. “This will be the first X-37B mission to use a service module to host experiments. The incorporation of a service module on this mission enables us to continue to expand the capabilities of the spacecraft and host more experiments than any of the previous missions.”
The service module is attached to the aft end of the X-37B spaceplane, providing additional capacity for experiments and payloads. The X-37B itself, measuring more than 29 feet (8.9 meters) long, also has a cargo bay inside its fuselage.
Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett said May 6 that the Air Force’s Rapid Capabilities Office is partnering with the U.S. Space force and the Air Force Research Laboratory on the next X-37B mission.
“In today’s age of electrons, space systems track storms, locate stranded motorists, timestamp credit card transactions, and monitor treaty compliance,” Barrett in a statement. “Demonstrating the department’s innovation, this X-37B mission will host more experiments than any prior missions. This launch also demonstrates the department’s collaboration that pushes the boundaries for reusable space systems.”
Barrett said the upcoming flight “maximizes the X-37B’s unique capabilities.”
“This important mission will host more experiments than any prior X-37B flight, including two NASA experiments,” Barrett said. “One is a sample plate evaluating the reaction of select significant materials to the conditions in space. The second studies the effect of ambient space radiation on seeds.”
The X-37B also carries a space-based solar power experiment.
“A third experiment designed by the Naval Research Laboratory transforms solar power into radio frequency microwave energy, then studies transmitting that energy to Earth,” Barrett said.
Once in orbit, the X-37B will also release a small satellite named FalconSat 8. Developed by Air Force Academy cadets in partnership with the Air Force Research Laboratory, the small satellite carries five experimental payloads. It will be operated by by the Air Force Academy’s Cadet Space Operations Squadron.
In a statement, the Air Force said it “continues to push the flight envelope for the X-37B, and will build upon its growing collaboration with experiment partners with its sixth mission.”
Barrett said the Air Force is declassifying some of the service’s space activities. The X-37B, which Barrett said was “previously cloaked in secrecy,” has logged 2,865 days in orbit on five previous missions.
The X-37B, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, remains an Air Force asset, officials said. The newly-established Space Force is responsible for the launch, on-orbit operations and landing.
“The ability to test new systems in space and return them to Earth is unique to the X-37B program and enables the U.S. to more efficiently and effectively develop space capabilities necessary to maintain superiority in the space domain,” the Air Force said in a statement.
Boeing has built two X-37B vehicles for orbital flights. The program began under NASA management before transferring to DARPA in 2004, then to the Air Force in 2006.
The first X-37B space mission launched in April 2010. Four of the previous X-37B flights have launched on ULA Atlas 5 rockets, and one lifted off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher.
VIEW PAYLOAD IMAGEhttps://photo.24liveblog.com/2521801603424713885/20200516103906_740738.jpeg05/17/2020 07:27The Centaur upper stage's liquid oxygen tank is reported at flight level.
05/17/2020 07:30The Atlas 5's first stage is now 20 percent full of liquid oxygen.
05/17/2020 07:31The Atlas 5 team has determined the failed sensor associated with the first stage liquid oxygen fill line is not a concern for today's countdown and launch.
05/17/2020 07:34The chilldown sequence to thermally condition the Centaur stage's Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C-1 engine has started.
05/17/2020 07:36Chilldown conditioning of the Centaur liquid hydrogen system has been completed. The ULA launch team has been given approval to begin pumping the cryogenic fuel into the Centaur upper stage, which will receive around 12,300 gallons of liquid hydrogen.
05/17/2020 07:40Here's a view from ULA of the Atlas 5 on the launch pad this morning.
VIEW IMAGEhttps://photo.24liveblog.com/2521801603424713885/20200517114047_027912.jpeg05/17/2020 07:41The Atlas first stage booster liquid oxygen tank is now 50 percent full. The first stage's RD-180 engine will consume the liquid oxygen in combination with RP-1 kerosene fuel, which was loaded into the rocket after rollout to the launch pad Thursday.
05/17/2020 07:44T-minus 60 minutes and counting. The countdown is ticking toward a final planned built-in hold at T-minus 4 minutes.
Liftoff remains set for 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT).05/17/2020 07:48The Centaur liquid hydrogen tank is 50 percent full. The liquid hydrogen will be consumed by the Centaur's Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10 engine mixed with the liquid oxygen loaded earlier in the countdown.
05/17/2020 07:50The Atlas first stage's liquid oxygen tank is 70 percent full at this time.
05/17/2020 07:56Final topping of the Centaur upper stage's liquid hydrogen tank is starting after having reached the 96 percent level.
05/17/2020 08:04The Atlas first stage liquid oxygen tank is now in topping mode after the completion of fast-fill.
05/17/2020 08:15One hour until launch. Here are some statistics on this morning's mission:
666th launch for Atlas program since 1957
368th Atlas launch from Cape Canaveral
255th mission of a Centaur upper stage
232nd use of Centaur by an Atlas rocket
501st production RL10 engine to be launched
32nd RL10C-1 engine launched
90th flight of an RD-180 main engine
84th launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002
32nd U.S. Air Force/Space Force use of an Atlas 5
69th launch of an Atlas 5 from Cape Canaveral
3rd Atlas 5 launch of 2020
124th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight
139th United Launch Alliance flight overall
76th Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance
99th United Launch Alliance flight from Cape Canaveral
54th ULA launch for U.S. Air Force/Space Force
29th 500-series flight of the Atlas 5
7th Atlas 5 to fly in the 501 configuration
96th launch from Complex 41
69th Atlas 5 to use Complex 41
9th orbital launch overall from Cape Canaveral in 2020
05/17/2020 08:16The Atlas 5 rocket is now fully fueled with liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen, kerosene and solid propellants. The launcher weighs around 761,000 million pounds fully loaded, and its RD-180 main engine will generate 860,000 pounds of thrust at full throttle.
The rocket's cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen supplies will be slowly replenished until the final minutes of the countdown, as the propellants boil off in the warm Florida atmosphere.
05/17/2020 08:29T-minus 15 minutes and counting. The Atlas 5 countdown is ticking toward a 30-minute planned hold at T-minus 4 minutes.
05/17/2020 08:30VIEW IMAGEhttps://photo.24liveblog.com/2521801603424713885/20200517123029_929786.png05/17/2020 08:40T-minus 4 minutes and holding. The countdown today's final built-in hold. During this 30-minute pause, the launch team and ULA management will be polled to ensure all consoles are ready for the terminal countdown.
05/17/2020 08:44Thirty minutes until launch. Here's a cutaway diagram from ULA of the Atlas 5 rocket, which is flying in the "501" configuration for today's mission, without any strap-on solid rocket boosters.
VIEW DRAWING IMAGEhttps://photo.24liveblog.com/2521801603424713885/20200517124403_641234.jpeg05/17/2020 08:49The ULA launch team is loading the trajectory profile for today's flight into the Atlas 5 rocket's guidance computer. The profile takes into account day-of-launch conditions, such as upper level winds.
05/17/2020 08:53The trajectory profile has been verified and loaded into the Atlas 5's INCA guidance computer.
05/17/2020 08:56ULA's live broadcast has started. The company says there are two 10-minute windows available for launch of the Atlas 5 rocket this morning with the U.S Air Force's X-37B spaceplane.
One of the windows opens at 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT), and today's second window starts at 10:52 a.m. EDT (1452 GMT).
05/17/2020 09:05The final readiness poll of the Atlas 5 launch team is expected to begin in a couple of minutes. Each member of the team will be asked for their "go" or "no go" status before the countdown resumes at T-minus 4 minutes.
05/17/2020 09:09ULA launch conductor Dillon Rice just completed his poll of the Atlas launch team. All stations confirmed their readiness to proceed with the countdown.
05/17/2020 09:09The launch director and mission director have concurred, with both voicing approval for the terminal countdown sequence.
05/17/2020 09:09The X-37B spacecraft is being switched to internal power for launch.
05/17/2020 09:10T-minus 4 minutes and counting. The final countdown sequence is underway, leading up to liftoff of the Atlas 5 rocket at 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
In the next few minutes, the launch pad's ground pyrotechnics will be enabled, and replenishment of the Atlas 5's propellant tanks will end to allow them to be pressurized for flight. The first and second stage will transition from ground power to on-board battery power.
An automated launch sequencer will take control of the countdown at T-minus 1 minute, 55 seconds. Shortly after, the Atlas 5's destruct system will be armed.
05/17/2020 09:11T-minus 3 minutes, 30 seconds. Final pre-launch steps are continuing. Ground pyrotechnics have been enabled as planned.
05/17/2020 09:11T-minus 3 minutes. The replenishment of liquid oxygen into the Atlas first stage, which kept the tank full as the cryogenic liquid boiled off in the warm Florida weather, has been ceased. This is a key step before pressurization of the liquid oxygen tank for launch.
05/17/2020 09:11The X-37B spacecraft is confirmed on internal power.
05/17/2020 09:11T-minus 2 minutes, 30 seconds. The Atlas 5's first stage RP-1 and liquid oxygen tanks have pressurized. Both are confirmed at proper flight pressures.
05/17/2020 09:12T-minus 2 minutes. The Atlas first stage and Centaur upper stage switching to internal power.
05/17/2020 09:12T-minus 1 minute, 55 seconds. The Atlas 5's automatic launch sequencer has been initiated.
05/17/2020 09:12T-minus 1 minute, 30 seconds. The Atlas 5's flight termination system, which would be triggered to destroy the rocket if it flew off course, has been armed for flight.
A few moments ago, topping of cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen in the Centaur upper stage was completed.
05/17/2020 09:13T-minus 60 seconds. Ignition of the Atlas 5's first stage RD-180 main engine will be commanded at T-minus 2.7 seconds.
05/17/2020 09:13T-minus 40 seconds. Centaur's propellant tanks are reported at stable flight pressures, and a final check of the Eastern Range's readiness came back with a "green" status.
05/17/2020 09:13"Go Atlas. Go Centaur. Go Space Force 7," the launch team just called out during a final status check.
05/17/2020 09:14Liftoff of a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, boosting science payloads and military technologies into orbit aboard the U.S. Air Force's X-37B spaceplane.
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