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  #21  
Old 03-04-2020, 03:53 PM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
Astra failed to launch DARPA's payload within the prize window. The payload has been removed and returned. Astra still plans to launch its rocket, but right now has no payload for it. I don't know if they plan to stay in Alaska for launch or move it back to CA. They did mention they would have to apply for new licenses/permits and hope to get it in the air "in weeks, not months".
I had read about the first part (Astra Space having missed winning the DARPA prize), but not about the second. (It seems a little odd, though, as it would seem that the four satellites' owners, including DARPA [I don't know if they're all DARPA-sponsored payloads] would want them to be orbited as soon as possible, regardless of the prize competition's outcome.) Winning the prize--while it would have been very nice for them, financially speaking--wasn't an "end-all, be-all" goal for them, as they already have (as one of the DARPA videos says) sixteen launches booked for customers, BUT:

They did encounter odd launch vehicle instrument readings that they didn't like during the latest launch attempt, and they've been "living out of suitcases" (and, probably, eating out) far from home, which costs more money. So I imagine they're going back home partly for cost reasons, and--primarily--so that they can thoroughly examine the vehicle and its Ground Support Equipment (with the benefit of all of their test equipment, handing devices, and tooling [plus their roomy--and warm!--plant]), find out what was off-spec, correct it, and then come back to Kodiak. It's often more difficult to troubleshoot equipment (especially for the first rocket of its type) "in the field," and while the Kodiak site has ample indoor facilities and vehicle and payload support equipment, Astra Space's "Rocket 3.0"-specific gear is at their Alameda, California factory. Also:

Given the "Rocket 3.0" vehicle's wide girth (52" [4' 4"] in diameter, wider than the 44.4" diameter Aries guided sounding rocket https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...i10.tqawR1EbnzE , which often carried large, recoverable & re-flyable astronomical telescopes), it would make a good suborbital telescope-carrying (and other large-payload)-carrying guided sounding rocket as well, using either just the first stage, or perhaps both stages (depending on the desired payload mass and peak altitude). As with the liquid propellant, 22" diameter Aerobee 350 (which was developed to carry telescopes), residual propellant gas under pressure (evaporated LOX, in the "Rocket 3.0's" case [the pressure-fed Aerobee 350 utilized its residual helium propellant pressurizing gas]) could power ACS thrusters for precision telescope pointing. Also, unlike the solid propellant Aries, the "Rocket 3.0," like the Aerobee 350 sustainer stage, should be free--or nearly so--of outgassing (smoke, which could foul telescope optics) after burnout (or shutdown), because closing the valves would stop propellant flow.
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  #22  
Old 03-04-2020, 07:19 PM
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According to *this* https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/03/...thout-a-winner/ SpaceFlightNow.com article (it contains a video as well as photographs), the Astra launch team saw indications of a sensor problem connected with "Rocket 3.0's" GNC--Guidance, Navigation, and Control--system, which--if real rather than a 'false negative' instrument indication--would have caused trouble in flight, likely resulting in a launch failure, BUT:

They say that they will be back at Kodiak soon, perhaps in a week or two, as the problem isn't of such a nature (like those frustrating--and seemingly endless--mission-postponing helium leaks in the Space Shuttles' SSME plumbing, which plagued the program in the early 1990s) that they'll have to tear the whole vehicle apart to find and fix the problem, as they're already zeroed-in on it. (In the meantime, =here= https://www.pfrr.alaska.edu/launch_info is the Poker Flat Research Range launch schedule, including a live video link [pix & videos of accomplished launches are also there, and on PFRR's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/results?sea...+research+range ].)
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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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  #23  
Old 03-22-2020, 05:10 AM
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Astra will try again to launch their Rocket 3.0 vehicle from the Kodiak spaceport this coming week (see: https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/03/...empt-next-week/ ). As the article says:

"Airspace warning notices from the Federal Aviation Administration suggest Astra is aiming for possible launch attempts Tuesday or Wednesday. The launch window each day opens at 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT; 11:30 a.m. Alaska time) and extends for three-and-a-half hours." Also:

I'm sure that SpaceFlightNow.com, Space.com, and YouTube.com will cover the Rocket 3.0 countdown and launch live on that day (or those days, if the Tuesday opportunity is missed), and it might be visible from here, clouds permitting, of course. At least the temperatures should be comfortable (to Alaskans and Canadians), as it's getting up to--and a bit above--freezing in the daytime (it actually feels nice in the sunlight, with the wind dead-calm).
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
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