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Old 11-11-2017, 03:47 AM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Default Antares counting down...

Hello All,

Online live coverage of this morning’s Antares 200 launch (see: http://spaceflightnow.com/2017/11/1...-status-center/ ) from Wallops Island, Virginia has already begun. The launch is scheduled for 7:37 AM EST (1237 GMT) Saturday, just under 4 hours from now, and the vehicle will carry a Cygnus space freighter into orbit to deliver supplies to the ISS.
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Old 11-11-2017, 06:17 AM
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Launch is about 20 minutes away. Interestingly, instead of using "T" (for "Time of launch") for the countdown events ("T minus 6 minutes and counting," "T plus 73 seconds," etc.), the Antares launch crew at Wallops appears to be using "L" (for "Launch") instead. At their latest weather briefing, the meteorological officer referred to the expected winds and cloud cover--they're within the permissible limits--"at L minus 0." Also:

In the old days, of course, launch crews used "X" because the actual moment of liftoff wasn't known precisely (partly because many terminal countdown events had to be sequenced manually back then). The last launch (at the Cape, at least) to use an "X countdown" was that of Explorer 1, where X minus 0 was "Firing command." This was followed by X plus 0 "Open fuel prevalves; close liquid oxygen vent," and after a few more "X plus ..." events, ignition was at X plus 14 seconds and liftoff occurred at X plus 15.75 seconds. The first countdown to use "T" (where either ignition or liftoff occurred at T=0 [it varies from vehicle to vehicle]) was for the launch of Explorer 2 (whose fourth stage failed to fire, so that it failed to orbit).
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http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
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Old 11-11-2017, 06:42 AM
jetlag jetlag is offline
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Scrubbed until tomorrow due to aircraft in the area.
**** it!
Launch rescheduled for 7:14 eastern.
Televised on NASA channel, also.

Allen
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Old 11-11-2017, 06:57 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jetlag
Scrubbed until tomorrow due to aircraft in the area.
**** it!
Launch rescheduled for 7:14 eastern.
Televised on NASA channel, also.

Allen
Yep...*SIGH* Some idiot in an airplane flew into the hazard area in the last two minutes, and with their instantaneous launch windows (Falcon 9/Dragon vehicles to the ISS have those, too; Atlas V/Cygnus vehicles have some leeway, but it's a more expensive ride), they had to abort. I hope a flock of seagulls adds plenty of phosphate-white "accents" to that numbskull's flying machine...
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http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
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Old 11-11-2017, 09:03 AM
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If he's a local, he needs to spend some time in a cell to remind him of his surroundings, not to mention suspend his license and impound his plane for a while.

If he's a traveler, I understand how it might happen if he got lost, but I also know there's no excuse not to do a flight plan and realize there's a launch facility along the coast. Actually, cell phone GPS and Google Maps should keep him from getting off course so maybe he needs to spend some time without a plane also. Cell phone GPS works at 35, 736 ft and 605 mph so there's no excuse whatsoever. That was the max altitude and ground speed when returning from Ft. Worth after visiting my son for the Lockheed family day.
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