Discover Top Posts Tagged with #orb-3

Interior of the SS Deke Slayton, which was lost in last week's Antares launch mishap. This image was taken shortly before the hatch was sealed and the spacecraft inserted into the rocket's payload fairing. Note the vehicle's namesake above the Orbital logo on the right side of the image. The cargo bags seen here carried numerous science experiments, food, and clothing for the station crew. The full manifest of the cargo can be read here.

#Orb-3 #Antares #Orbital Sciences #Deke Slayton

Dawn rises at the scene of disaster. An initial assessment of Pad 0A at Wallops Island was made yesterday, following Tuesday's catastrophic mishap of the Antares vehicle. The Wallops Incident Response Team completed this cursory look at the pad and surrounding buildings to begin their damage assessment report. This is the first step on determining the extent of the damage caused by the rocket's fall to Earth and subsequent explosion. The assessment determined that, at first glance, the buildings surrounding the pad, including two sounding rocket launch facilities, were the most heavily damaged structures.

At Antares' Pad 0A itself, two of four lightning suppression rods were destroyed as well as significant damage to the rocket's Transporter Erector Launcher. This rolls the vehicle out from the Horizontal Integration Facility and erects it on the launch mount. In the images above, you can see the impact crater caused by the rocket just to the left of the pad and the rock berm. The damage to the TEL and lightning rods are evident, as are numerous pieces of debris on the beach and surrounding area. The second image is an enlarged segment of the another NASA-released photo. Here the two fallen lightning rods can be seen, as well as burned umbilicals on the TEL. The launch mount is the black ring in the middle of the TEL and lightning rods. For more information, check out NASA's press release here.

#Orb-3 #Antares #Wallops Island #Mid Atlantic Regional Spaceport

Yesterday's Antares launch mishap was visible to meteorological satellites. Taken from the Grand Rapids Weather Station twitter.

#meteorology #Antares #ORB-3 #rocket launch

Cargo manifest of Cygnus ORB-3

Yesterday's launch mishap destroyed over 5,000 pounds of hardware, supplies and other materials for the six-member crew of the International Space Station. In addition to routine supplies, hardware from the Planetary Resources corporation was on board, as well as experiments and microsats from over 20 schools. The first space-based observations of Meteors in Earth's atmosphere would have been taken with the Meteor Composition Determination instrument.

Here is a complete list of the manifested cargo that was stored on the Cygnus spacecraft, SS Deke Slayton, as taken from the NASA website.

TOTAL CARGO: 4883 pounds/2215 kg

Science Investigations - 1602.8 pounds/727 kg US Investigations - 1254.4 pounds/569 kg International Partner Investigations - 348.3 pounds/158 kg

Crew Supplies - 1649 pounds/748 kg Flight Crew Equipment - 273.4 pounds/124 kg Food Supply - 1360.3 pounds/617 kg Flight Procedures Books - 15.4 pounds/7 kg

Vehicle Hardware - 1404.3 pounds/637 kg US Hardware - 1338.2 pounds/607 kg JAXA Hardware - 66.1 pounds/30 kg

Spacewalk Equipment - 145.5 pounds/66 kg

Computer Resources - 81.6 pounds/37 kg Command & Data Handling Equipment - 75 pounds/34 kg Photo/TV Equipment - 6.6 pounds/3 kg

TOTAL CARGO WITH PACKAGING: 5057 pounds/2296 kg

#Antares #ORB-3

My thoughts on the Antares Orb-3 mishap.

It's difficult to see what happened to Antares last night. That was probably my second-favourite launch I have ever seen, and it was an incredible experience. It was so unique, so different from all launches I've seen at the cape, Antares meant more to me than Curiosity's Launch, MUOS-II, or WGS 5. Antares was unique to Chicoteague; it was the first large rocket ever launched there, and it reinvigorated a small beachfront resort community much the same way Cape Canaveral was in the 1950's and 1960's. People were excited. Businesses opened with space-related names and themes.

Antares had a personal touch to her, maybe in part because Orbital Sciences is a private company, maybe in part due to the serenity of the Virginia coastal area. I also have a tendency to feel connected to rockets I've had unique experiences with. While working for NASA, I was part of the NASA Social for the Orb-D1 flight. We saw that Antares on the pad, her her roar into space just two miles away, and had an intimate view of her processing and integration. I feel empathy not only for Orbital Sciences, but also for Antares. The majestic rocket I saw last fall didn't get her moment in the sun. She didn't get to fulfill her destiny. She didn't get to accomplish what she was designed to do. Instead, she died a horrible death in a ball of flame, saddening millions across the Eastern shore and beyond. Orbital will solve whatever caused yesterday's mishap. Future Antares flights will be safer, and hopefully will not be plagued by yesterday's problem. But we must not forget the trials undergone to yield those future successes. We must remember flights such as Orb-3. On a more important scale, we must remember our fallen astronauts, who gave their lives for the benefit of all mankind. To underfund or halt a crewed space program because of their loss of life would be just as foolish as if we retarded the progress of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program and the entire commercial spaceflight industry. Antares will rise again. Cygnus will take to the skies. Today, we weep. Tomorrow, we prevail.

#Antares #Orb-3 #personal #yeah i know im weird #i like spaceflight a lot #poor baby #:(

The Antares rocket carrying SS Deke Slayton to resupply the International Space Station exploded moments after liftoff. More information as it comes. Space travel is never routine. Thankful that there were not crew members onboard.

#Antares #orb-3 #rocket launch