Delta Mariner Accident:

The Mariner – which is capable of carrying up to three common booster cores on the 2,100 mile journey from Alabama to Florida – was originally designed to carry Delta IV hardware from the production plant to the launch sites, while the Atlas hardware was delivered from its production facility in Denver to the launch sites by aircraft.

This process was reviewed in 2009, when the Atlas V production line was consolidated in Decatur, leading to ULA evaluations into common transportation options for both vehicles and the potential cost savings.

In mid-2011, Atlas hardware began sharing a ride on the Delta Mariner, completing a dual shipment, carrying both Atlas and Delta stages to Florida for future missions.

The ship was carrying an Atlas first stage and a Centaur upper stage for the April mission to launch the Air Force’s Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF-2) satellite.

Advanced Extremely High Frequency -2 (AEHF-2) is set to become part of a series of communications satellites operated by the United States Air Force Air Force Space Command. The spacecraft will be used to relay secure communications for the Armed Forces of the United States, the British Armed Forces, the Canadian Forces and the military of the Netherlands.

The system will eventually consist of four spacecraft in geostationary orbits, with one bird already in orbit. AEHF is replacing the older Milstar system and will operate at 44 GHz Uplink (EHF band) and 20 GHz Downlink (SHF band).

The vessel was also shipping an interstage adapter for NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission, scheduled to launch in August.

RBSP is being designed to help us understand the Sun’s influence on Earth and Near-Earth space by studying the Earth’s radiation belts on various scales of space and time.

The instruments on NASA’s Living With a Star Program’s (LWS) Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) mission will provide the measurements needed to characterize and quantify the plasma processes that produce very energetic ions and relativistic electrons.

The RBSP mission is part of the broader LWS program whose missions were conceived to explore fundamental processes that operate throughout the solar system and in particular those that generate hazardous space weather effects in the vicinity of Earth and phenomena that could impact solar system exploration.

RBSP instruments will measure the properties of charged particles that comprise the Earth’s radiation belts, the plasma waves that interact with them, the large-scale electric fields that transport them, and the particle-guiding magnetic field.

The two RBSP spacecraft will have nearly identical eccentric orbits. The orbits cover the entire radiation belt region and the two spacecraft lap each other several times over the course of the mission. The RBSP in situ measurements discriminate between spatial and temporal effects, and compare the effects of various proposed mechanisms for charged particle acceleration and loss.

The Delta Mariner, owned and operated by Foss Marine, made contact with the Eggner Ferry Bridge at US Highway 68 and Kentucky Highway 80 over the Tennessee River Thursday evening at 8:15 pm. Central Time resulting in a portion of the bridge collapsing, noted ULA in a release.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) spokesperson Keith Todd told the media that it was a miracle no one was killed, as there were four cars on the bridge and an off duty officer about to cross. Despite damaging two spans of the bridge, no vehicles were on those sections when the accident occurred.

While an investigation will likely reveal the cause of the accident, it appears the ship may have been off course, or mis-directed, given the bridge has lights that span navigable waterways.

One of the spans of the bridge was completely destroyed and became wrapped around the around the front portion of the vessel, but appears to have avoided any hull damage. 20 crewmembers were on board the Delta Mariner, none of which were injured during the accident.

“The Mariner cargo area of the ship and the flight hardware did not experience any damage. The hardware is well instrumented and all data from these instruments is being reviewed to confirm that there were no issues. The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation,” added the ULA statement.

(Images: ULA, Associated Press and KYTC).

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SNC Chasing The Dream:

SNC class themselves as the complete system provider and claim to have demonstrated significant progress maturing design and development of the Dream Chaser Space System (DCSS), which saw them become one of the winners of the CCDev-2 contract award – resulting in $80m of funds being provided from NASA, who are aiming to return a domestic crew launch capability by the middle of the decade.

The Dream Chaser would launch atop of an Atlas V – building on studies which range back several years – as first revealed via NASASpaceflight.com’s article on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the United Launch Alliance (ULA) in 2007.

Dream Chaser – which is a reusable lifting body vehicle based on the form of NASA Langley’s HL-20 spaceplane concept from the 1980s – can land on a conventional runway, unlike all of its capsule-based competitors, as much as SpaceX are looking into a rocket assisted landing on land for their Dragon capsule.

Working through the completion of 19 milestones per CCDev-2 – the latter of which is listed as the Free Flight Test, which will be a piloted Flight test from carrier aircraft to characterize handling qualities and approach and landing – Senior Director of Space Exploration Systems, Merri J Sanchez, PHD, updated the status of their activities this week at the AIAA Rocky Mountain Section Speakers Program in Colorado.

Noting the extensive heritage Dream Chaser already has on record – which ranges as far back as the genesis of the Russian BOR-4, X-24A and HL-10 – Dr Sanchez cited a total of 1200 wind tunnel tests and numerous simulations gained via the HL-20 program alone.

Utilizing modern materials, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and their own wind tunnel data, the design continues to be qualified via advanced development techniques.

With the Outer Mould Line (OML) of the HL-20, Dr Sanchez noted Dream Chaser has low re-entry deceleration loads – less than 1.5G – with a large cross range ability, low impact landing and no black zones during ascent trajectory, with Return To Landing Site (RTLS) ability (runway return).

The vehicle is capable of flying with 2-7 crew in upright or recumbent seating, or uncrewed, with the ability of carrying 1000kg of cargo in replacement of crewmembers. The crew will ingress via overhead access hatch on the ground, while the spacecraft will dock aft facing.

Dream Chaser sports non-toxic hybrid motors (HTPB, N2O) which have been built in-house, with Reaction Control Systems (RCS) utilizing N2O and Ethanol. The spacecraft’s on orbit power will be supplied via Batteries using a trickle charge from the ISS.

SNC also cite they are working with a wide range of companies to achieve their orbital goals, mentioning ULA, USA, Aerojet, NASA, Scaled, MDA, Boeing, Hamilton Sundstrand, Draper Lab, SAS and others. They also have an active student program, who have assisted in model and simulation work.

Testing milestones have proceeded without any major issues, with Dr Sanchez noting that structural testing began in December, 2010 at a testing lab at the University of Colorado.

Milestones included three rocket motor tests in one day including vacuum start, and CCDev testing will continue through to the end of July, 2012 – a process which ranges from physically building flight hardware, through to advancing through the PDR (Preliminary Design Review) level, and the testing of numbers systems through the CDR (Critical Design Review) phase.

SNC noted that the engineering test article – which is entirely made out of composite materials – was delivered in December of last year, which will become a flight vehicle for an atmospheric test flight.

Dr Sanchez added that engineers are currently outfitting the vehicle with the aeroshell.

Other items of interest were mentioned during the address, noting the first uncrewed launch will involve horizontal landing. The vehicle is capable of mission durations lasting a lengthy 210 days when docked (to the International Space Station), and will always be ”crew active” for prox ops.

For abort safety, the vehicle does sport crew bailout capability – as a last resort, with runway landings always intended in abort situations - and for a pad abort, testing will use hybrid motors which are sized for specifically for such an emergency scenario.

The crew, which will launch and land in Florida – as much as it can land at any commercial airport – will egress out of the aft of the vehicle on the runway after landing.

Dream Chaser is targeting a landing speed of 191 knots, after re-entering the atmosphere protected by what is being described as a Thermal Protection System (TPS) that is similar to that on the Space Shuttle.

Dr Sanchez also recognized a certain romanticism between Dream Chaser and fans of the Shuttle, but noted their “runway landing” vehicle is very practical, particularly from a turnaround and cross-range perspective.

In fact, it was noted the vehicle has around one thousand miles of theoretical cross range, it can land on a runway from virtually any point in the orbit, and can land on a CONUS runway in no longer than six hours. It was also mentioned that Dream Chaser is capable of something the ISS program consider particularly valuable, which is its “dissimilar redundancy” when compared to capsules.

Looking towards the future, SNC expect the CCDev-3 stage to be announced as early as February 7, with a 45 day response period. SNC have seven more milestones to complete via the ongoing CCDev-2 stage.

Speaking about their launch vehicle of choice, SNC were full of praise for Atlas V and its reliability – something which has seen it become the main vehicle of preference with several of the commercial crew companies – despite Atlas V’s current status of not being a human-rated vehicle.

Work is continuing to take place to allow the United Launch Alliance (ULA) rocket to launch humans into space, with the key focus on the Emergency Detection System (EDS).

As confirmed in July of last year, NASA and the ULA are working via an agreement for technical support via NASA’s Commercial Crew Program focusing on the human rating of the Atlas V. The unfunded act is expected to result in certifying Atlas V to launch NASA astronauts riding in vehicles such as the Dream Chaser, Boeing CST-100 and Blue Origin’s spacecraft.

NASA is providing feedback to ULA based on its human spaceflight experience for advancing Crew Transportation System (CTS) capabilities and the draft human certification requirements. In turn, ULA is providing NASA feedback on those requirements, including providing input on the technical feasibility and cost effectiveness of NASA’s proposed certification approach.

ULA’s obligations include; continuing to advance the Atlas V CTS concept, including design maturation and analyses. Conduct ULA program reviews as planned, Perform a Design Equivalency Review (DER). Develop Hazard Analyses unique for human spaceflight. Develop a Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA). Document Atlas V CTS certification baseline, and Conduct Systems Requirements Review (SRR).

SNC also noted their vehicle is a good match, given – as noted by Dr Sanchez – lots of integration work has already been evaluated with the Atlas V and Dream Chaser over the last six to seven years.

The company expect that hardware testing with the Atlas V – from an integration standpoint – will be the next major phase of marrying the two systems together, ahead of their combined launch into orbit in the coming years.

–

(Images via SNC, ULA and L2 – via the new DC section, *L2 members click here*)

(With the shuttle fleet retired, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles. 

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Atlas V/MSL Mission:

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), or Curiosity, is an 850 kilogram rover which was launched towards Mars as part of a 3,400 kilogram spacecraft, including a protective shell, a heat shield and landing system, and a cruise stage to control its trajectory whilst en route to Mars.

Curiosity is about the size of a small car, and carries eleven instrument packages, including cameras, spectrometers, radiation, atmospheric and environmental sensors.

The main instrument suite aboard MSL is the 38-kilogram Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) package. Using mass spectrometry and gas chromatography, SAM will measure the abundances of carbon-based compounds in samples of Martian soil, whilst a laser spectrometer will be used to determine how much hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen are present in the atmosphere.

While SAM is MSL’s main instrument, it will not be the first to operate. Two instruments will be collecting data as Curiosity descends towards the surface of Mars. One of these is MEDLI, a technology development and atmospheric research experiment which will collect data during atmospheric entry.

The MEDLI Integrated Sensor Plugs (MISP) will record the rate at which the spacecraft’s heat shield is ablated, whilst the Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System (MEADS) will be used to record atmospheric pressure and measure changes in the spacecraft’s attitude and trajectory during entry. The data collected by MEDLI will be compared to expected design values, to evaluate the performance of the entry shell and heat shield ahead of future missions.

The other instrument designed to operate prior to landing is the Mars Descent Imager, or MARDI. Mounted on the front of the rover, pointing downwards, MARDI will capture high-resolution video of the landing site during the rover’s descent to the surface. Video will be captured from the time at which the heat shield separates from the rover’s protective shell, until the spacecraft lands, however vibrations caused by the spacecraft’s parachutes and landing thrusters may blur some of the frames of video.

After landing, the camera will be deactivated and the data it has collected will be transmitted back to Earth. The video of the landing site can then be used to plan the rover’s journey across the surface of Mars. MARDI was developed by Malin Space Science Systems, who continued work on the instrument despite it being removed from the mission in 2007, which later enabled NASA to reverse its decision and include the instrument.

MastCam, or the Mast Cameras, will be used to produce medium and high-resolution still imagery and 10 fps high-definition video of the Martian surface; with one of the cameras producing the medium resolution images, and the other the high-resolution ones. The cameras can produce true colour images, or by means of several available filters, monochromatic images.

A dedicated electronics package will process the images without interfering the Curiosity’s other systems, and the rover can store several thousand images at a time for transmission back to Earth. MastCam is so named because the cameras are located on a mast at the front of the rover.

The Chemistry and Camera experiment, or ChemCam, is mounted above MastCam. ChemCam will use a laser to vaporise rock and soil samples for spectrographic analysis, with a telescope focussed on the sample collecting light which will be fed to spectrometers within the body of the rover via fibre-optic cables. A camera will also be included in the instrument, to image rocks after the laser has been used to clear dust away from them.

ChemCam is expected to be able to differentiate between sedimentary and igneous rocks, and to study the chemical composition of rocks and soil, looking for traces of water, and for chemicals which might be harmful to humans on future manned missions to mars. The instrument will also be used to monitor the drilling of samples, and to study marks left on rocks by the effects of weathering.

The Rover Environmental Monitoring Station, REMS, is an environmental research instrument developed by Spain’s Centro de Astrobiologia. It will measure the ground and air temperatures, wind velocity, UV radiation levels, air pressure and humidity. The instrument consists of two perpendicular booms protruding from the mast, and a separate sensor to measure the air pressure. Infrared sensors to measure surface temperature are located on one boom, whilst the other houses humidity sensors. The remaining experiments are present on both booms.

Chemistry and Mineralogy, or CheMin, will be used to identify minerals present in powdered rock and soil samples collected by the rover, by means of x-ray crystallography. The instrument will fire x-ray photons at the sample, and by means of charge-coupled devices surrounding it, the angle by which they are diffracted would be measured.

The diffraction pattern can then be used to determine the structures of minerals present in the sample, and these minerals can subsequently be identified. Determining which minerals are present on Mars enables scientists to identify the conditions present on Mars when they formed, allowing the planet’s past environment to be studied.

The Radiation Assessment Detector, or RAD, will measure radiation levels on the surface of Mars, studying all types of high-energy radiation, both incident from space and emitted by the atmosphere and surface of Mars itself. RAD will use a caesium iodide crystal and silicon plates to detect alpha and gamma radiation, nucleons and ions of elements lighter than iron.

Data on radiation levels can then be used to study the effects of radiation on the Martian surface, and to determine the extent to which humans would be exposed to radiation whilst on the surface during a future manned mission.

A neutron detector, the Detector of Albedo Neutrons or DAN, will be used to monitor neutrons emitted from the surface of Mars after stimulation by incident cosmic rays. Because the hydrogen atoms present in water molecules can act as a neutron moderator, by looking for slower-moving neutrons scientists can determine if water is present in an area.

DAN is funded by Roskosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, whose own Mars probe, Fobos-Grunt, remains stuck in low Earth orbit after failing to depart for the red planet earlier in the month.

MSL is equipped with a movable arm which houses two more instruments. One of these is the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer, APXS, which will be placed onto an area of soil or rock, which it will bombard with alpha particles and x-rays. This will allow the elements present in the soil to be identified. Funded by the Canadian Space Agency, the APXS present of Curiosity is the third to be sent to Mars; previous-generation instruments were carried by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers.

The second instrument on the arm is the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, a camera capable of imaging microscopic features on rocks, with a resolution of up to 13.9 micrometres per pixel. The instrument includes a light which will allow it to be used at night, and a source of ultraviolet radiation which can be used to illuminate the soil by causing some substances to fluoresce.

The camera is expected to yield a greater understanding of the geology of Mars. The arm also carries a drill and a scoop to collect rock and soil samples respectively, and the Dust Removal Tool, a brush to clear dust from areas to be sampled.

Curiosity is the fourth rover to be sent to Mars by the United States. The first, Sojourner, was deployed by the Mars Pathfinder probe as part of NASA’s Discovery programme. Launched aboard a Delta II rocket in December 1996, Mars Pathfinder landed on Mars in July 1997 and deployed Sojourner the day after landing. The rover returned photos and analysed rocks near the landing site, using the Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer, a forerunner of the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer carried by MSL.

The next two rover missions to Mars were the two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. Launched by Delta II and Delta II Heavy rockets on 10 June and 8 July 2003 respectively, the two rovers landed on Mars on 4 and 25 January 2004. The rovers were intended to last for 90 sols, or Martian days, however Spirit operated for 2,210 days before contact was finally lost in March 2010. Opportunity remains operational, and is currently exploring Endeavour, a crater on Meridiani Planu.

The United States is the only country to have successfully deployed rovers on the surface of Mars, and the only country to have attempted to deploy freely moving rovers on the planet, however the Soviet Union did attempt to land two small Prop-M rovers, which would have remained tethered to the landers that deployed them, as part of the Mars-2 and Mars-3 missions. Mars-2 was lost during landing, whilst Mars-3 landed successfully, however it only operated for about 20 seconds, and never deployed its rover.

Atlas V AV-028 was used to launch the Mars Science Laboratory. It was the twenty eighth flight of an Atlas V rocket, and the maiden flight of the 541 configuration, which featured a five metre payload fairing, four solid rocket motors providing additional thrust at liftoff, and a single-engine Centaur (SEC) upper stage.

The fairing, which had an external diameter of 5.4 metres, is 20.7 metres long. This was the “short” configuration fairing, with a 23.4 metre “medium” length, or a 26.5 metre “long” fairing also available. Several four-metre diameter fairings can also be used, on launches with smaller-sized payloads, provided no more than three solid rocket motors are needed.

The Atlas V is the only member of the Atlas-Centaur family of rockets currently in service. The Atlas-Centaur was originally designed to combine the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile with a cryogenically-propelled Centaur upper stage. It made its unsuccessful maiden flight in 1962, with its first successful launch coming the next year.

Atlas V/MSL Pre-Launch Flow Article:
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/11/curiosityatlas-v-teams-set-weekend-launch-mars/

The design was refined and improved over the years; by the mid 1980s the Atlas G, featuring a stretched first stage, was in service. The Atlas I, the first numerically identified member of the family, was operated between July 1990 and April 1997.

Introduced in 1991, the Atlas II incorporated uprated first stage engines, as well as a further stretch to the first stage and also a stretch to the Centaur. The Atlas IIA, with uprated second stage engines, entered service the next year. The year after that, the Atlas IIAS, with four Castor-4A solid rocket motors, began flying.

The short-lived Atlas III was operated between 2000 and 2005, and bridged the gap between the Atlas II and the Atlas V. It demonstrated the use of an RD-180 powered first stage, and a single-engine Centaur rather than the twin-engined model used for all previous launches.

The first Atlas V launch occurred in August 2002, when an Atlas V 401 deployed Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 6 satellite. The Atlas V is more modular than its predecessors; it can fly with two different fairing diameters, between zero and five boosters, and with a single of twin engine Centaur. No Dual-Engine Centaur (DEC) launches have been made to date, however it is expected that launches of Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft will use the DEC, which offers increased performance to low Earth orbit.

Atlas V launches from Cape Canaveral occur from Space Launch Complex 41, the northernmost active complex on the Cape. SLC-41 was originally built as part of the Integrate-Transfer-Launch complex, along with nearby SLC-40, to support Titan IIIC launches during the 1960s. The first launch from the pad occurred in December 1965.

In the early 1970s, the complex was modified to accommodate the Titan IIIE, which replaced the Transtage third stage used on the Titan IIIC with the much more powerful Centaur-D1T. The Titan IIIE, which launched exclusively from SLC-41, deployed the Viking, Voyager and Helios probes to study Mars, the outer planets, and the Sun.

SLC-41 later became a Titan IV launch complex, supporting the Titan IV’s maiden flight in June 1989. Ten Titan IVs were launched from the pad, the last being Titan B-27, which failed to place a Defense Support Program satellite into the correct orbit in April 1999. Six months later SLC-41 was demolished ahead of its conversion for use by Atlas V rockets, which culminated in the maiden flight of the Atlas V in June 2002.

During the Titan era, rockets to be launched from SLC-41 were assembled in the Vertical Integration Building (VIB), before being transported to the pad atop a mobile platform on rails for payload installation and launch. Atlas rockets are instead assembled, and have their payloads installed, in the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF), which is only 550 metres away from the pad. In 2006, the disused VIB was demolished.

Following assembly, payload integration and final testing, AV-028 was transported from the VIF to the pad atop its mobile launch platform on Friday. The rocket departed the VIF at 13:02 UTC (08:02 local), and arrived at the pad 41 minutes later. The launch was originally scheduled to have occurred on Friday, following a rollout on Thursday, however a 24 hour delay was called to replace a faulty battery in the rocket’s range safety systems.

When the countdown reached T-2.7 seconds, the first stage’s RD-180 engine ignited. The Common Core Booster (CCB), which is the first stage of the Atlas V, is fuelled by RP-1 and liquid oxygen, and powered by a single engine. Four solid rocket motors, manufactured by Aerojet, provide additional thrust at liftoff, and ignited when the countdown reached zero. At tha point the rocket was ready to lift off, however liftoff itself did not occur until T+1.1 seconds, when the vehicle’s thrust exceeded its weight.

About a second after liftoff, the engines reached full thrust, with the rocket executing a manoeuvre to attain the correct attitude for its ascent at T+5.2 seconds.

AV-028 reached supersonic speed at around 34.6 seconds mission elapsed time, as it passed through the sound barrier. Just under twelve seconds later the vehicle experienced the area of maximum dynamic pressure, or Max-Q.

Burnout of the four solid rocket motors came between 85 and 90 seconds into the flight, with separation occurring 112.5 seconds after launch. Separation of the payload fairing, used to protect MSL during its ascent through Earth’s atmosphere, came three minutes and 24.9 seconds into the mission, followed shortly afterwards by the forward load reactor, an aluminium structure used to dampen vibrations within the fairing

About 22 seconds after the fairing separated, the first stage engine was throttled down to maintain a force due to acceleration of 4.6G. First stage flight ended with Booster Engine Cutoff, or BECO, which occurred around four minutes and 21.5 seconds after launch.

Stage separation happened six seconds later, with the Centaur igniting just less than ten seconds after that. The Centaur is a cryogenically-fuelled upper stage, which uses liquid hydrogen propellant and liquid oxygen oxidiser. It is powered by a single RL10A-4-2 engine.

To deploy MSL into a heliocentric orbit, AV-028′s Centaur made two burns. The first lasted six minutes, 52.4 seconds, reaching an initial parking orbit. This was followed by a coast phase lasting approximately 19 and a half minutes.

Following the coast phase, a second burn was made, lasting around 480 seconds, sending MSL on its way to Mars. About three and three quarter minutes after the end of the second burn, MSL separated from the Centaur to begin its mission. The timing of the second burn was dependent on the time and date of launch, and consequently was subject to change.

MSL is the third and last spacecraft launched on a mission to Mars this year. The previous two, Fobos-Grunt and Yinghuo-1, were placed into low Earth orbit by a Zenit-2SB rocket earlier this month.

Following a successful launch, the Fobos-Grunt spacecraft failed to execute its first two engine burns to depart Earth orbit, and engineers have been having difficulty communicating with it since. It looks unlikely that the spacecraft can be saved, however efforts to recover it are still ongoing. Yinghuo-1 remains attached to Fobos-Grunt, and will also be lost if Fobos-Grunt cannot be made to depart Earth orbit.

This is the final Atlas V launch of the year, and the last of eleven launches conducted by United Launch Alliance in 2011. ULA’s next scheduled launch is of a Delta IV carrying a Wideband Global Satcom communications satellite in late January next year. The next scheduled Atlas V launch will be of the first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite in February.

(Images: NASA, ULA, L2 and Alan Waters) (NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles.)

(Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ - to view how you can access L2)

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Atlas V - “Winning!”:

With rollout complete for Saturday’s launch of Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) from Cape Canaveral, the United Launch Alliance (ULA) vehicle is aiming for its 28th success in a row, a 100 percent record since its maiden launch in 2002.

The two stage rocket is driven by the Russian-built RD AMROSS RD-180 engine – a kerosene/liquid oxygen derivative of the RD-170 engine developed for the Zenit boosters of the Energia rocket – with a Centaur Upper Stage powered by Pratt & Whitney’s RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Atlas V configurations can include Aerojet strap-on boosters.

The Atlas V is a flight-proven expendable launch vehicle and is currently used by NASA and the Department of Defense (DOD) for critical space missions to launch highly expensive payloads into orbit. Now, Atlas V is walking down the path of proving it can be entrusted with launching humans into orbit.

The MSL launch will be the second flagship mission of the year, following the successful launch of NASA’s Juno probe, which is currently on its way to Jupiter.

With numerous spacecraft successfully lofted uphill, Atlas V’s reliability continues to be an attractive proposition in the launch services industry, despite the continued rise of Arianespace’s industry-leading Ariane 5, and the new kids on the block, such as SpaceX’s Falcon 9 range.

However, the major challenge – one which reaches back into the heritage of the Atlas launch vehicle family – is yet to come, centered around NASA’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev-2) contracts.

Click here for recent Atlas V specific articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/atlas-v/

Humans On Atlas V:

Ridiculed by previous NASA evaluations during the a period of what sources claim was “protection” for the now-defunct Ares I, Atlas V was shunned from crewed mission viability via the notion of “black zones” – a claim that the vehicle’s trajectory was unable to safely abort a crewed mission in the event of a serious failure.

It was documented that NASA considered – and rejected – the use of Atlas V as a Space Shuttle replacement for human space flight during their Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS) in 2005. However, this was mainly based on the heavy Orion crew vehicle of the time.

Just one year later, in 2006, Lockheed Martin noted that for a 20mt crew vehicle, there was enough margin in the Atlas V 401′s flight envelope to allow the crew to safely abort at any time during launch, closing all unsafe ‘black-zones’. Also, for such a mass requirement, structural loads on the vehicle would be decreased to the point all primary structures meet NASA 1.4 Factor of Safety margins.

Analysis also showed the Russian-built RD-180 engine in this regime revealed only one component that “fell a hair below” the 1.4 margin, at a 1.38 Factor of Safety. This led to the 2006/2007 agreements with Bigelow Aerospace for crew transportation requirements to the planned commercial space hotel complex.

Little more was heard for a few years, as Atlas V continued to loft payload after payload successfully into orbit, that was until the Commercial Crew drive by NASA, as the Agency scrambled to close the gap between the retirement of the Shuttle’s NASA role and the handover of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to commercial companies.

The breakthrough for Atlas V came in July of this year, as ULA signed an agreement with NASA for an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) to work on human rating the launch vehicle, with the goal of certifying Atlas V to launch NASA astronauts riding in vehicles such as the Dream Chaser, Boeing CST-100 and Blue Origin’s spacecraft.

The process – which includes NASA managers providing oversight into the evaluations – is proceeding to plan, as ULA successfully completed the second required major performance milestone, known as the Design Equivalency Review (DER), which completes a rigorous assessment of the flight-proven Atlas V launch vehicle’s compliance with NASA human spaceflight requirements.

To successfully complete the DER, NASA human spaceflight experts and ULA engineers worked over a span of several months to perform a detailed review of all NASA requirements and processes, and identified the extent to which the Atlas V meets those requirements.

With a hat-tip to how Atlas V is already entrusted with the safe flight of billion dollar spacecraft, the need for any lengthy and inherently risky launch vehicle development program is expected to be avoided.

“The Design Equivalency Review allowed the NASA team to compare their stringent human spaceflight requirements against the Atlas V design and demonstrated performance,” noted George Sowers, vice president of business development and advanced programs.

“The ULA team benefited greatly from NASA’s insight and expertise. The completion of the DER is one more step towards confirming that Atlas V is the best choice for providing near-term, safe and affordable launch services for NASA human spaceflight.

“With 27 consecutive successes – 98 for the Atlas program as a whole – Atlas V provides the highest confidence, lowest risk solution for human spaceflight.”

ULA – announcing the news this week – also noted that as NASA moves forward into the first phase of the Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract (CCIDC), ULA are confident they will be the launch provider of choice to offer human-certified Atlas launch services to meet the needs for the crew transportation system providers.

“The CCIDC is the critical first step towards creating a robust commercial crew transportation capability to low-Earth orbit (LEO).  ULA looks forward to continued work with our customers and NASA to develop a U.S. crew space transportation capability providing safe, reliable and cost-effective access to LEO and the International Space Station.” added Dr Sowers.

Other milestones in work include the Development of Hazard Analyses unique for human spaceflight, the Development of a Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), the Documenting of Atlas V CTS (Crew Transportation System) certification baseline, and to Conduct Systems Requirements Review (SRR).

The majority of this process is expected to be completed by the end of this year (2011), with the SAA allowing ULA to work with NASA to gain invaluable insight into their unparalleled expertise in Human Spaceflight. Through this SAA, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program and ULA will establish an Atlas V system baseline compliance with NASA CTS requirements and processes.

A large part of the effort is focused on the continued development of an Emergency Detection System prototype test bed. The EDS will monitor critical launch vehicle and spacecraft systems and issue status, warning and abort commands to crew during their mission to low Earth orbit.

EDS is the sole significant element necessary for flight safety to meet the requirements to certify ULA’s launch vehicles for human spaceflight, a certification ULA are confident of acquiring.

Atlas V’s Commercial Crew Passengers:

While Atlas V makes progress towards becoming a Commercial Crew provider, the transports which have already opted to fly with the ULA vehicle are also pushing forward with their CCDev-2 goals – with varying levels of success.

Boeing and their CST-100 spacecraft – recently signed a 15 year lease to utilize Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-3) at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). The deal was announced following a NASA agreement with Space Florida – the State’s aerospace economic development agency.

Boeing are currently working through their CCDev-2 contract milestones – worth over $92m – which is centered around their CST-100 capsule, a vehicle which is configurable to carry up to seven crew/passengers or an equivalent combination of passengers and pressurized cargo to LEO destinations, including the ISS and the BA-330 space complex.

While their CST-100 capsule is compatible with multiple launch vehicles, the Atlas V was confirmed as the initial LV of choice, following their August, 2011 deal.

According to an expansive CCDev-2 presentation – acquired by L2 – development kicked off with a Delta Systems Definition Review, followed by a Phase 0 Safety review, both of which were completed in May. A Landing Air Bag drop demo was completed in August, followed by Phase 1 Wind Tunnel Tests.

October was on the schedule for the Interim Design Review (IDR) take place – although its completion is yet to be confirmed – with a Parachute Drop Test demo on the books for next April, part of a total of 25 CCDev2 milestones.

Boeing plans to use wind tunnel testing of the Atlas V and the CST-100 this year to complete a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of the integrated system in 2012 under the second round of its Commercial Crew Development Space Act Agreement with NASA.

The run up to the PDR will include Service Module Propellant Tank Development Tests and the Launch Vehicle Emergency Detection System (EDS)/Avionics System Integration Facility Interface Simulation testing taking place.

Boeing claim they will be ready to provide services by 2015, a target date which is being used by most of the CCDev-2 award winners, as much as recent concerns over NASA funding is threatening slips in the schedule by one to two years.

Blue Origin’s $22m award was for their their biconic-shape capsule, which will initially launch with the Atlas V launch vehicle, prior to hitching a lift uphill via its own Reusable Booster System (RBS).

The vehicle is capable of carrying seven passengers – with an ability for cargo runs – to the ISS, and will be available for independent commercial flights for science, adventure and trips to other orbital destinations.

It is also capable of a 210 day ISS lifeboat role, something Orion (MPCV) was going to be tasked with during its dark days surrounding the cancellation of the Constellation Program (CxP), prior to being re-promoted as a Beyond Earth Object (BEO) vehicle by NASA.

The Blue Origin vehicle has mostly shunned the public limelight, although the aforementioned CCDev-2 presentation provided some details on the key development milestones.

“During CCDev-2, Blue Origin with mature their Space Vehicle design through System Requirements Review (SRR), mature the Pusher Escape System, and accelerate engine development for the Reusable Booster System (RBS),” noted the presentation.

While all of the aforementioned events have received their “kick off” meetings, the listed milestones include the Space Vehicle Mission Concept Review in September, ahead of key Pusher Escape Test Vehicle shipment and ground firing either side of the new year.

However, Blue Origin did receive a set-back on August 24 in Texas, when an in-flight failure of their second test vehicle – known as the Vertical-Takeoff, Vertical-Landing (VTVL) test vehicle was suffered at 45,000 feet/Mach 1.2, caused by flight instability triggering the range safety system and shut down the vehicle’s engines.

A Pusher Escape Pad Escape Test is scheduled for April, 2012, followed by the SRR in May – the month which will result in the opening RBS Engine Thrust Chamber Assembly (TCA) test.

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) and their Dream Chaser (DC) Space System (DCSS) provides the poster child of the Atlas V options, given it is the only “space plane” option, as seen via its “baby orbiter” appearance.

Dream Chaser is a Reusable, Piloted Lifting Body, Derived from NASA HL­‐20 launching on an Atlas V, with SNC currently working through 19 milestones via its $80m CCDev-2 effort – the latter of which is listed as the Free Flight Test, which will be a piloted Flight test from carrier aircraft to characterize handling qualities and approach and landing.

Milestones, which are listed alongside a schedule document – include a Systems Requirements Review (SRR), Canted Airfoil Fin Selection, and work on their Cockpit Based Flight Simulator – all completed in June and July.

SNC officially announced the confirmation of the Cockpit Based Flight Simulator milestone – albeit only this month -  a milestone which assists Dream Chaser engineers in evaluating the vehicle’s characteristics during the piloted phases of flight.

Also noted was the activation of the Dream Chaser Program’s Vehicle Avionics Integration Laboratory (VAIL), completed in September. VAIL is a platform for Dream Chaser avionics development, engineering testing, and integration, and will also be used for verification and validation of avionics and software. The lab is linked to the Cockpit Based Simulator hardware and software for integrated system testing.

“The Dream Chaser team, which includes SNC as well as our industry teammates and our NASA partners, has made tremendous progress over the last four months,” noted Jim Voss, Vice President of SNC’s Space Exploration Systems. “Our simulator and avionics lab give us the ability to do engineering evaluations of our complex systems. 

“These successful Milestones, completed on time and within budget, reflect the rapid progress possible in the NASA Commercial Crew Program.”

Other listed notables include the delivery of the Engineering Test Article (ETA) in December, prior to the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) – scheduled for the end of May, 2012.

(Images: L2 Content, NASA CCDev, SNC, ULA, Boeing)

(As the shuttle fleet retire, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles. 

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The mission will mark the first NASA undertaking to Mars in over four years and the last chance for the world’s space fairing nations to successfully launch a probe to the red planet during the current planetary alignment window which ends in December.

Following the completion of the buildup of the core stages of the veteran Atlas V rocket, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity was moved to Launch Complex 41 (LC 41) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on November 3, 2011.

Arriving at the pad at 4:35 AM, the MSL was hoisted up to the top of the Atlas V rocket where it was soft mated to the Centaur Forward Adapter for bolt installation.

As noted by the November 3 processing update, available for download on L2, “the subsequent weight offload operations were interrupted due to an unexpected crane load cell reading and observed slack in hoist cables.”

The issue occurred approximately 30 seconds into the load transfer, and a team was immediately convened to determine the cause of the issue.

Since the spacecraft itself was not in the load path, United Launch Alliance (ULA) and NASA quickly determined that it was safe to proceed with the mating and securing of the spacecraft atop the Atlas V rocket.

By the following morning, mating of the MSL payload fairing to the top of the Atlas V was complete, and the pad teams had powered up the spacecraft for interleaved telemetry testing.

Integrated Systems Testing between the Atlas V rocket and the MSL spacecraft also commenced on the morning of November 4, as did the R&R (Removal & Replacement) of the video transmitter for the Centaur forward facing camera.

By Saturday, November 5, Integrated Systems Testing was complete with nominal operations detected throughout the test.

The Integrated Systems Test also served to confirm the functionality of the two forward facing cameras on the Atlas V booster and the Centaur upper stage.  Before this test, however, it was determined that the aft facing booster camera, which was noted to have failed during an October 13 Wet Dress Rehearsal, would not be replaced prior to the launch of the mission – and will therefore not be available on launch day.

By the following day, “The walk-down of the AV-028 was completed … as planned by ULA and NASA. Preliminary findings and noted discrepancies will be coordinated and processed with Atlas Cape Operations beginning Monday morning,” noted the Sunday, November 6 processing update.

A successful Baseline Test of the flight systems on November 8 then preceded the very important MSL Mission Readiness Briefing (MRB).

At the MSL MRB, “the project presented an overview of compliance with the Level 1 requirements, overall risk, open work, and team readiness.”

While there were still “a few open items” at the time of this review, all parties were in agreement that all was in place to “proceed with operations toward launch” – a recommendation that was carried forward to the agency (NASA) the following day.

With that recommendation, NASA accepted the recommendation on Nov. 10 to proceed with launch operations for Curiosity and its Atlas V rocket.

Power for Curiosity: MSL gets its nuclear power generator:

By Veterans Day in the United States (November 11), the launch processing teams had completed the build-up of cleanroom enclosures at the pad, and the Payload Fairing doors had been removed for Spacecraft access and Freon removal operations.

Freon offload operations were completed on Sunday, November 13, and by the following day, 95 percent of closeout operations on the Atlas V were complete.

By November 14, the MMRTG mass model simulator had been removed from Curiosity in preparation for the installation of the real Multi-Mission Radioisotope
Thermoelectric Generator (MMRTG): Curiosity’s nuclear power generator – the sole source of power for the solar panel-less rover.

Working on the same principles as 28 previous U.S. space missions, Curiosity’s MMRTG will generate electrical power for the rover through the conversation of heat released from the nuclear decay of radioactive isotopes into electricity.

Notable NASA missions to use RTGs include the Apollo 12-17 missions, Vikings 1 and 2, Pioneers 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, Ulysses, Galileo, Cassini, and New Horizons.

On November 15, a dress rehearsal for the installation of the MMRTG was executed at LC-41 with a “qual unit” taking the place of the actual MMRTG.

The rehearsal was a complete success, and the “qual unit” was “de-integrated” from the MSL on Nov. 16. 

By late in the day on Nov. 16, control teams had met for the final time to review contingency procedures should something go wrong with the installation of the nuclear power source for Curiosity.

“The JPL, LSP, and ULA teams also met again today to scrub through the pre-coordinated responses for potential loss of cooling scenarios.  The anomaly responses, expected actions, and conditions that would require decisions from the contingency operations board were also reviewed and deemed acceptable by the team,” notes the Nov. 16 pre-launch processing status update.

However, the weather was also being monitored closely for the MMRTG installation operation.

“The team will be monitoring the weather conditions closely for Thursday’s ops, including an update prior to commencing transport and operations,” noted the processing update.

“The Planning Forecast, provided by the 45th, indicates a cold front advancing from the west overnight, and entering Central Florida by early afternoon.  Chances of precip likely to increase from the early AM hours to the early afternoon.  However, no significant issues have been identified for commencing Thursday’s ops.”

On Thursday (November 17), transfer of the MMRTG to LC-41 began on time and proceeded without issue, less a short weather delay due a Phase II lightning warning.

When the storm that triggered the warning failed to develop, the warning was lifted and operations at the pad continued.

“The MMRTG was hoisted and inspected by the team. The unit was then installed on the RIC (installation cart).  Cooling lines were connected and checked with no leaks observed.”

By Friday, November 18, the MMRTG integration to MSL was continuing on pace with electrical mates complete.

Flight Readiness Review and battery R&R on the Flight Termination System:

Simultaneous to the installation of the MMRTG was a review of all communications, telemetry, video, voice systems, mission operations, and facilities. No issues were identified, and a decision was made to proceed to the Flight Readiness Review (FRR).

With all these procedures complete/in progress, the final Flight Readiness Review was held at the Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 18.

“All organizations polled (45th Space Wing, ULA, and NASA) provided concurrence for readiness to proceed with processing towards the planned 11/25/2011 launch date.”

Nonetheless, shortly after this approval was received, a battery on the Atlas V rocket’s Flight Termination System (FTS) was found to be suspect and was removed. 

At the time, “The plan and schedule for battery replacement, system testing and final preparations for launch [was] being developed and [would] be ready for review tomorrow.  The current ILC [remained] 25 November 2011. The short term schedule for activities [remained] in place.”

However, by Saturday the 19th, it was clear that the battery issue would not be resolved in time to make the Friday, November 25 launch.

“Regarding the FTS battery, and as reported earlier this afternoon by NLM (NASA Launch Manager), the suspect battery was removed and is in Denver for inspection and failure analysis. The new battery is in the process of being activated, with both installation and re-test of the FTS [are] planned for completion on Tuesday.”

Due to a desire not to work the ground crews on the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, the decision was made to postpone the launch of MSL one day, thus giving crews the time needed to install and test the new battery, complete roll preps for the Atlas V rocket, spend the holiday with their families, and then roll to the pad for launch.

As of writing, FTS battery installation and testing is scheduled for today – Tuesday – following the final Mission Dress Rehearsal yesterday (Monday).

Final roll preps for the transfer of the Atlas V rocket from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad will take place on Wednesday, with Thursday being a non-work day due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

The Atlas V rocket, in the 541 configuration (a 5.4-meter Payload Fairing, 4 strap-on Solid Rocket Motors, and a single-engine Centaur upper stage) will then roll to the pad on Friday, November 25 for a 1002 EST targeted liftoff on Saturday, November 26.

(Images: NASA, ULA, L2, Alan Waters) (NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles.)

(Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ - to view how you can access L2)

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Propellant Depots:

Based around a solution to one of the central problems for Launch Vehicles and Spacecraft, propellant depots are a highly favored approach to removing the need to launch with all the fuel required to complete an entire mission – in turn allowing Launch Vehicles to lift more hardware into space.

They are – for lack of a better phrase – gas stations for spacecraft, a helpful tool for the new phase of exploration, which requires spacecraft to utilize a large amount of fuel to adventure out of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) – and return back home.

The potential ability to refuel cryogenic propulsion stages on-orbit would provide an innovative paradigm shift for space transportation, supporting NASA’s Exploration program as well as deep space robotic, national security and commercial missions.

Refueling enables large Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) missions without relying “solely” on super Heavy Lift Vehicles (HLVs), from early Lagrange point missions to near Earth objects (NEO), the lunar surface and eventually Mars. Earth-to-orbit launch could also be optimized to provide competitive, cost-effective solutions that allow sustained exploration.

NASA interest in Propellant Depots is no secret, as much as the subject never seems to gain enough momentum via NASA’s public comments. However, internally – especially in recent months – NASA teams have been openly pressing forward with planning for at least a demonstration of the technology.

Indeed, it was this time last year when documentation noted “use of orbital propellant transfer and storage (Depots) provides a breakthrough in space transportation enabling truly affordable, sustainable and flexible exploration to destinations beyond low Earth orbit (LEO),” as NASA teams discussed the viability of a LO2/LH2 PTSD (Propellant Transfer and Storage Demonstration) mission by 2015.

With the United Launch Alliance (ULA) also basing their exploration “master plan” around the use of their Atlas and Delta launch vehicles with a Propellant Depot architecture, progress then appeared to slow down to a snails pace by the latter half of 2010.

However, Propellant Depots are back, and with a bang, seemingly coinciding with NASA’s reorganization of their exploration based departments, as “Technology Development Activity” notes from the Johnson Space Center (JSC) made no effort to hide the interest of supporting the technology as a compliment – as opposed to alternative – to their Space Launch System (SLS) efforts.

“Innovative tasks and advanced development work opportunities were presented to the HQ Engineering Management Board. Looking at ESMD and SOMD guidance to propose a management and evaluation structure to select projects based on affordability and progress toward exploration in addition to SLS and MPCV (Orion) to get us out of LEO,” noted TDA notes (L2).

TDA – who cover a number of projects, including the proposed Power-Beaming Demonstration with the International Space Station (ISS) – worked a budget activity back in the Spring, prior to a planning effort which resulted in a presentation at NASA HQ.

“Working with the Commercial team and the HAT team on an evolutionary plan for propellant depots. Putting together a story on propellant depots, and what an evolutionary strategy for depots might be,” added the notes. “The team continues to develop a strategy for a propellant depot as an alternative for the future.”

Propellant Depots could prove to be a viable passenger on the SLS cargo missions, at least in the next decade, but the requirement to at least demonstrate the “gas stations” means an existing vehicle – such as a Delta IV or Atlas V – is the obvious route to take, one which would enable a sooner – rather than later – approach to setting up the opening salvo of what may become an interplanetary highway.

“Looking at the potential for use a propellant depot in concert with existing launch vehicles, and a strategy for implementation. To support that, anyone with issues or concerns with depot are invited to attend and share them,” notes continued over recent weeks. “Continuing to tighten up the story on propellant depots. Starting to look at a transfer vehicle and how that fits into the interplanetary highway concept.”

With the launch vehicle providing the ride uphill, placing the depots in their selected spots in space would likely be tasked to a tug vehicle, with references on the TDA notes referencing an Orbital Transfer Vehicle (OTV) – potentially a version of ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).

“Continuing to develop a strategy for using propellant depots. A good concept was put together for some demonstrations that can be evolved. Will have a first look at an orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) concept on a reusable type OTV. Looking at some top priorities for the agency in terms of developing an interplanetary highway.”

For the interim, the Depot Team is reporting back to the Human Architecture Team (HAT) on the studies being evaluated with depots, whilst comparing them to the in-house mission designs under evaluation.

The “Simple Depot”:

With NASA’s intentions now public, via the selection of four companies to develop concepts for storing and transferring cryogenic propellants in space, several proposal reports to help define a mission concept to demonstrate the “cryogenic fluid management technologies, capabilities and infrastructure required for sustainable, affordable human presence in space”, are expected in the not too distant future.

In what is being noted as one of the leading concepts, the Simple Depot is a small, 30 metric ton capacity, Centaur derived depot, would allow exploration possibilities for Orion and other spacecraft, without the need for the additional “mission fuel” to be carried by the launch vehicle.

“By refueling the DCSS (Delta Cryogenic Second Stage) upper stage following launch of Orion on Delta IV heavy lift vehicle (as the example cites – as much as Orion is only currently set to launch on a test mission via this EELV), a 30 mT depot can support near-term missions of Orion to the Earth Moon Lagrange points or lunar fly-by missions,” notes an expansive 2011 presentation on the “Simple Depot” concept (L2).

“The same depot concept lends itself to much larger capacity depots using larger diameter tanks, upper stages and payload fairings. These larger depots can enable missions to NEO, the Lunar surface and Mars.

This concept includes two additional basic tenets incorporated into the design to allow for simplified development, reduce development costs and ensure mission success, namely taking advantage of existing experience and being built using hardware that is common to the rest of space transportation.

“The proposed Simple Depot concept satisfies all of these design principles. Its design employs settled propellant management and predominantly existing flight qualified hardware,” added the presentation.

“The design consists of a large LH2 tank connected by a warm mission module to the LO2 tank. This depot concept can be launched on a single Atlas mission requiring no on-orbit assembly allowing for complete system ground check out.”

The Simple Depot LH2 module is composed of a large tank with minimal penetrations – an important factor for storing cryogens. For the “small” 30 mT depot, the LH2 tank is a modified Centaur tank, as used as the main element of the upper stage of the Atlas V launch vehicle.

Commonality means the module is built on the same tooling, using the same procedures as construction of the Centaur.

“The LH2 module is launched with the LH2 tank filled with ambient temperature helium, not LH2. This allows the LH2 and mission modules to be designed primarily for orbital requirements not ground and ascent environments. With these substantially reduced requirements the skin gauge can be reduced from today’s 0.020” for Centaur’s to 0.013”,” the presentation noted.

“This is the same gauge as used on early Centaurs. This thinner tank wall allows the tank to be very light weight, (~500 kg). Made of corrosion resistant stainless steel, the thin tank walls reduce the conduction of energy to the liquid and results in a very low thermal mass that must be quenched when the tank is filled or when slosh waves splash warm walls.”

The LH2 tank is connected to the mission module by low conductivity Ball Aerospace heritage cryogenic composite struts. Keeping the entire LH2 module lightweight minimizes the required cross section of these struts.

This is critical to minimizing the structural heat transfer from the warm mission module to the very cold LH2 module. The struts can also be vapor cooled to further reduce conductive heat leakage into the LH2 tank.

The entire LH2 tank is encapsulated in a robust, Ball Aerospace IMLI blanket that incorporates radiation barriers, both vapor and active broad area cooling (BAC) as well as MMOD protection.

“The described LH2 tank is 3m in diameter by 16m long limited by the existing Atlas payload fairing. The tank is 110 m3 and can store 5 mT of LH2. At a useful mixture ratio (MR) of 6:1 this quantity of LH2 can be paired with 25.7 mT of LO2, allowing for 0.7 mT of LH2 to be used for vapor cooling, for a total useful propellant mass of 30 mT.

“Accounting for the tank weight, plumbing, instrumentation and thermal protection the LH2 module is anticipated to weigh <2 mT. Based on analysis the described depot will have a boil-off rate of approaching 0.1 percent per day, consisting entirely of hydrogen.”

To conserve volume, allowing for a useful sized depot to be fully integrated on the ground and emplaced on-orbit in a single launch, the LO2 is stored in the upper stage’s propellant tank. As such, this requires a thermally efficient upper stage that can be completely encapsulated with MLI.

The presentation notes that the DCSS design encapsulates the LO2 tank in the inter-stage allowing the tank to be wrapped in MLI. The equipment shelf, RL10 engine, feedlines and inter tank struts all attach directly to the tank, however, resulting in thermal shorts.

While the DCSS LH2 tank sports fewer attachments, it is exposed to atmosphere during ascent preventing application of standard MLI without development of an application-specific aero fairing.

Atlas V fully encapsulates the Centaur inside the 5.4 m payload fairing and is currently flown with either a single or a 4-layer MLI blanket. However, Centaur’s LO2 tank aft bulkhead serves as the equipment shelf with the RL10 engine, feedlines, helium bottles, hydrazine bottles, pneumatics panel and reaction control system loop mounted directly to the bulkhead.

This results in substantial tank heating. Centaur’s LH2 tank however is very thermally efficient, especially if there is not a substantial thermal gradient across the common bulkhead.

“For these reasons the proposed Simple Depot would be launched on an Atlas and use Centaur’s LH2 tank to store the LO2,” notes the conclusions. “Centaur’s LH2 tank is also relatively large, with a volume of 47 m3 capable of containing 54 mT of LO2.”

It was, however, noted that several modifications – such as new valves and plumbing – would be required on the Centaur.

While the Simple Depot is so light that it could be launched on an Atlas 501, it would be launched on an Atlas 551 – the configuration which recently launched the Juno spacecraft. This vehicle would provide ~12 mT of Centaur residuals (combined LH2 and LO2) in a 28.5 degrees by 200 nm circular LEO.

Once safely delivered to orbit the LH2 module must be chilled prior to transfer of Centaur residual LH2. Centaur’s cold hydrogen ullage gas is vented through the LH2 mission module tank to chill the tank. This chilldown process has been demonstrated on past Centaur flights to chill the feedlines and RL10 pump housing.

“Once the LH2 module is chilled the transfer of Centaur’s ~2mT of residual LH2 can commence. This is conducted in a settled environment. The LH2 transfer is pressure fed. LH2 will enter the LH2 module tank subcooled, quenching the GH2 vapor and sucking in additional LH2,” adds the presentation.

“This “zero-vent fill” transfer process is indifferent to the liquid-gas interface. This zero-vent fill process has been demonstrated to be very effective, attaining nearly 100 percent fill.

“Following completion of the LH2 transfer, Centaur’s LH2 tank is vented to vacuum, fully evacuating the residual hydrogen gas. Following the Centaur LH2 tank “safing”, the ~10 mT of residual LO2 is transferred from the LO2 tank to the LH2 tank, the LO2 module tank, using the same transfer process. Once Centaur’s LO2 tank is completely drained the tank is locked up trapping the residual helium and GO2.

“This residual gas must be kept at a higher pressure than Centaur’s LH2 tank (LO2 module) to avoid reversing Centaur’s common bulkhead.”

The brains of the depot is located between the Centaur LO2 module and the LH2 module – known as the mission module. This module includes the flight computer, solar panels, batteries, fluid controls, avionics, remote berthing arm and docking and fluid transfer ports.

Other important elements of the depot are also noted, such as the sun shield, which can be used to shadow objects that must be kept very cold – such as a propellant depot.

“The James Web Space Telescope (JWST) uses an open cavity planer sun shield to ensure that the entire mirror/instrument assembly is maintained at a low temps”, the presentation continued.

“Propellant depots in free space, such as at a Lagrange point, can use this same shielding concept to provide a very cold environment where cryogenic, even LH2, storage is readily achieved.

“For small sun shields it may be possible to erect the sun shield prior to launch. However in most cases the shield will have to be deployed once on-orbit. The JWST uses a mechanical boom to deploy the sun shield. Alternatively a pneumatic boom, inflated with waste GH2, can be used to deploy and support the sun shield.”

For visiting spacecraft, the Autonomous Rendezvous and Docking (AR&D) capability is referenced, citing how the Russians have a proven capability, while the US is making strides, as seen with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Orbital Express mission.

The ISS resupply ship fleet, namely Progress, ATV and HTV are also mentioned – although the future US spacecraft raise the hopes they will have the sufficient ability to utilize Propellant Depots.

“Robust AR&D development continues with, NASA’s Orion crew capsule, along with NASA’s two commercial orbital transportation services (COTS) program winners (SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corporation). Results from these on-going programs will ensure that AR&D is widely available to support the servicing and use of propellant depots.”

With a 30 mT LO2/LH2 capacity, the described Centaur derived cryogenic propellant Simple Depot can provide near term operational use supporting large scale robotic missions and even crewed Earth Moon Lagrange point and lunar flyby
missions.

By making efficient use of the entire Atlas 5m payload fairing volume for the LH2 module the existing Atlas can launch a depot with 70 mT of combined LO2/LH2 capacity. With ULA’s proposed larger Advanced Common Evolved Stage (ACES) the depot capacity in a single EELV launch increases to 120 mT or even 200 mT with a 6.5m PLF.

Interestingly, while some class Propellant Depots as an alternative to HLV’s such as the SLS, the presentation notes the same concept can be applied to future heavy lifters, in order to allow launch of even larger capacity depots.

Also discussed are the relevant requirements a depot would need, such as tanker missions, to top up the depot in-situ. This is required due to the natural boil off of the propellant, although there would be flexibility, with refueling tanker missions launched with propellant mass sized to the selected launch vehicle.

In summary, the presentation adds that Propellant Depots can enhance the mission capability of exploration architectures regardless of the use of small reusable rockets, larger EELV class rockets or much larger heavy lift vehicles, while future replacement depots can sport improved technology, as an interplanetary highway is constructed in space.

(Images: L2 Content, ULA, Ball Aerospace)

(As the shuttle fleet retire, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles. 

(Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ - to view how you can support NASASpaceflight.com)

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Flagship Mission To Jupiter:

Juno is the second mission in NASA’s New Frontiers programme. The first mission, New Horizons, is currently on its way to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt. It is expected to fly past Pluto and its four moons in July 2015. A third mission, OSIRIS-REx, is expected to be launched in 2016. It will study the asteroid 1999 RQ36 before returning a sample to Earth. The New Frontiers programme calls for medium-class spacecraft for planetary exploration.

The Juno spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It has a spin stabilised configuration, with a mass of 3,625 kilograms. Unlike previous missions to the outer planets, which have used Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) for power, Juno will be powered by three solar panels, each measuring 2.65 metres in width, and 8.9 metres in length when fully deployed. A LEROS-1b engine will be used for course corrections and orbital insertion.

Juno carries nine instruments. The Microwave Radiometer (MWR) will be used to study heat being emitted from Jupiter in order to study the dynamics and composition of its atmosphere. The Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper (JIRAM) will conduct infrared observation and spectroscopic analysis of the upper levels of Jupiter’s atmosphere, which will also help scientists to understand the structure of the atmosphere.

The Flux Gate Magnetometer (FGM) will be used to produce a map of Jupiter’s magnetic field, and to study how the magnetosphere is structured in the planet’s polar regions. Studies of the magnetic field will also aid investigations into the internal dynamics of the planet. The Advanced Stellar Compass (ASC) will help with the mapping by allowing Juno to plot its position accurately.

Juno’s Polar Magnetosphere Suite of instruments consists of the Juno Energetic Particle Detector Instrument (JEDI), the Jovian Auroral Distributions Experiment (JADE), the Ultraviolet Spectrometer (UVS), the Radio and Plasma Waves Experiment, or WAVES, as well as JIRAM.

This combined set of instruments will study electric currents flowing along field lines in the planet’s magnetic field, and ultraviolet and electromagnetic emissions and the distribution of energetic particles in Jupiter’s aurorae.

JADE will study the energy and distribution of particles in the polar regions of Jupiter’s magnetosphere, whilst JEDI will study the energy and distribution of ions, particularly hydrogen, helium, oxygen and sulphur, to see if there is any change over time. WAVES will look for currents within the aurora, and compare them to Jupiter’s radio emissions to establish how the currents affect the emissions. UVS will record data on incident ultraviolet radiation.

JunoCam (JCM) will produce three-colour images of Jupiter, which will be used for visual studies of Jupiter, giving context to other observations, and for public release.

As part of a public outreach programme, three Lego figurines are being carried aboard the spacecraft, depicting the Roman god Jupiter, the goddess Juno, and seventeenth-century Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei.

A plaque donated by the Italian Space Agency with an image of Galileo and some text from one of his observations of Jupiter has been attached to the spacecraft’s propulsion system.

The spacecraft is named Juno after the Roman goddess of marriage, and wife of the god Jupiter. According to Roman mythology Jupiter hid himself in clouds, however Juno was able to see through those clouds, and uncover the truth about Jupiter.

In addition to these instruments, Juno will also use its communications systems to study Jupiter’s gravitational field, as part of the Gravity Science Experiment. By transmitting signals to Earth and studying their Doppler shift, scientists hope to be able to study how Jupiter’s gravity affects Juno, and hence gain a greater understanding of the internal structure of the planet.

Following launch, Juno will take five years to reach Jupiter. Two years into its journey, in October 2013, it will return to Earth for a flyby which will provide a gravitational assist, propelling it into the outer solar system. In August 2016 Juno will enter Jovian, or zenocentric, orbit, beginning fourteen months of studying Jupiter from orbit. Juno is intended to operate in a polar orbit around Jupiter.

Juno will be the ninth spacecraft to visit the planet Jupiter. Named after the Roman god of the sky, Jupiter is almost 318 times more massive than Earth, and over 1,300 times larger in terms of volume. It orbits the Sun at a radius of 5.2 astronomical units, completing one orbit every 4331 days. A gas giant, it is comprised of about 90 percent hydrogen and 10 percent helium, with trace amounts of other gases, including methane and ammonia.

Jupiter has 64 known natural satellites, and four rings. Its largest satellites are the four Galilean Moons, which were discovered in 1609 or 1610 by Galileo Galilei. These were the first objects to be discovered orbiting a celestial body other than the Earth, and helped to disprove the geocentric model of the cosmos.

Jupiter itself is covered in bands of clouds containing crystallised ammonia, with wind speeds of around 100 metres per second. The Great Red Spot, a storm two or three times the size of Earth, is one of the most well-known and long-lasting features in Jupiter’s atmosphere, having been observed for over 180 years. Smaller storms have also been observed, including a second red spot; Oval BA, also known as Red Spot Junior, which was formed in 2000 by the collision of three other storms.

The first spacecraft to visit Jupiter was Pioneer 10, which was launched on 3 March 1972 aboard an Atlas LV-3C Centaur-D with a Star-37E kick motor. It flew past Jupiter and its Galilean Moons in December 1973; reaching a closest approach of around 200,000 kilometres at 02:26 UTC on 4 December.

Pioneer 10 was also the first spacecraft to achieve solar escape velocity, and since passing Jupiter it has continued on its way out of the solar system. The last transmission detected from it was received on 23 January 2003, at a distance of over 80 astronomical units.

Pioneer 11 was launched on the maiden flight of the Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1A on 6 April 1973, also equipped with a Star-37E kick motor.

It flew past Jupiter in December 1974, and at 05:21 UTC on 3 December, it made its closest approach. Using a gravitational assist from Jupiter, it flew on towards Saturn, before also leaving the solar system.

The two Pioneer missions to the outer solar system paved the way for the Voyager programme; an offshoot of the Mariner programme which saw two more missions to Jupiter launched by larger Titan IIIE rockets, again using Star-37E kick motors. Both of these missions were launched from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral, the same launch complex from which Juno will depart today.

Voyager 2 was launched on 20 August 1977, with Voyager 1 on 5 September. Voyager 1 followed a different trajectory to Voyager 2, and was ahead of its sister craft by the end of the year. It reached Jupiter in March 1989, following two months of observing the planet as it approached.

At 12:05 UTC on 5 March, it passed Jupiter at a distance of 348,890 kilometres. Observations of Jupiter continued until 13 March, as Voyager 1 flew away from Jupiter en route to its November 1980 encounter with Saturn.

On 25 April, less than a fortnight after Voyager 1 ceased its observations of Jupiter, Voyager 2 began to make distant observations. A little over two months later, at 22:29 on 9 July, Voyager 2 made its closest approach of 721,760 kilometres from Jupiter.

Like its predecessor, it continued to make observations as it departed towards Saturn, ending on 5 August. Voyager 2 went on to fly past Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, becoming the only spacecraft to date to visit all four outer planets.

The Ulysses spacecraft, which was deployed from Space Shuttle Discovery during the STS-41 mission in October 1990 by means of an Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), flew past Jupiter on 8 February 1992.

Ulysses was a mission to study the Sun, and its visit to Jupiter was not primarily to study the planet, but to gain a gravitational assist which increased its orbital inclination.

Despite this, Ulysses did take readings of Jupiter’s magnetosphere during the flyby. Ulysses made a second, distant, flyby of Jupiter in 2004 during which it took more readings. The spacecraft was finally deactivated on 30 June 2009.

Galileo was the first mission to place a spacecraft into orbit around Jupiter. It also carried an atmospheric probe which became the first spacecraft to enter Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Launched aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis on 18 October 1989 during the STS-34 mission, and successfully deployed less than seven hours later, Galileo was propelled into heliocentric orbit by means of an Inertial Upper Stage.

Galileo had originally been intended to be deployed using a Centaur-G upper stage during the STS-61-G mission.

The Shuttle-Centaur programme was cancelled after the loss of Challenger due to concerns about crew safety in the event of a launch abort, and as a result the Galileo mission had to be redesigned for deployment with the less powerful IUS.

This necessitated the spacecraft making a flyby of Venus, and two of Earth, before finally arriving at Jupiter. En route, it flew past the asteroids 951 Gaspra and 243 Ida. During the flyby of Ida it discovered Dactyl, the first natural satellite to be found orbiting an asteroid.

On 13 July 1995, an atmospheric probe was released from Galileo. It entered the atmosphere of Jupiter on 7 December, after which it operated for 58 minutes before it overheated, or was crushed under the pressure of Jupiter’s atmosphere. The first data returned by the probe arrived at 22:15 UTC, however given the distance between Jupiter and Earth; this would have been transmitted several minutes earlier.

At 02:10 UTC on 8 December, the Galileo spacecraft was confirmed to be in orbit around Jupiter, after a signal was received confirming the end of its orbital insertion burn.

Galileo remained in orbit of Jupiter for over seven years and nine months, during which time it made many discoveries, including the structure of the planet’s rings, the presence of a magnetic field around the moon Ganymede and the possible existence of a subsurface ocean on the moon Europa.

On 21 September 2003 Galileo was deorbited in order to prevent a possible collision with one of Jupiter’s natural satellites, which could have led to contamination. Galileo entered Jupiter’s atmosphere at 18:57 UTC following a slingshot around the moon Amalthea the previous November.

Cassini flew past Jupiter on 30 December 2000, gaining a gravity assist for its journey to Saturn. At the time, Cassini was a little under halfway to Saturn, having been launched aboard a Titan IV(401)B rocket on 15 October 1997, and finally entering orbit around Saturn on 1 July 2004.

During the flyby the spacecraft produced 26,000 images of Jupiter, including some of the most detailed pictures ever returned of the planet. Studies of the data and images returned by Cassini helped scientists to understand more clearly the weather patterns and circulation within Jupiter’s atmosphere.

New Horizons was the most recent spacecraft to visit Jupiter, flying past in February 2007 to pick up a gravity assist for its mission to the dwarf planet Pluto. New Horizons was launched by an Atlas V 551 with a Star-48B kick motor from SLC-41 on 19 January 2006, at which time Pluto was still considered a planet.

During its flyby of Jupiter, which reached closest approach at 05:43 UTC on 28 February 2007, New Horizons produced images of the planet, its satellites and rings, and recorded data on its magnetosphere.

Juno launched atop Atlas V AV-029, which flew in the 551 configuration, with a five metre payload fairing, five solid rocket motors augmenting the first stage, and a single-engined Centaur (SEC) second stage. This was the second time the 551 configuration has flown; its previous launch being that of New Horizons. In total, it is the twenty seventh launch of an Atlas V.

The five metre payload fairing has an exact external diameter of 5.4 metres, and is available three different lengths. The “short” fairing is 20.7 metres long, whilst the “medium” length is 23.4 metres, and a “long” fairing 26.5 metres long. The five metre fairings are produced by RUAG, a Swiss company which also produces a similar fairing for the Ariane 5 rocket.

Juno was encapsulated in a “short” fairing, the length which has been used for all Atlas V launches with five metre fairings, except for the NROL-41 mission last September, which used the “medium” fairing.

The launch of Juno was  the 175th flight of an Atlas rocket with a Centaur upper stage. The Atlas-Centaur began flying in May 1962, with its maiden flight ending in failure.

Consisting of an Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile boosting a Centaur cryogenically-propelled upper stage, the Atlas-Centaur retained the Atlas missile’s unusual first stage configuration, with two of its three first stage engines on a detachable booster unit which would be jettisoned to save weight when those engines were no longer needed. The third, sustainer, engine would then power the first stage alone for the remainder of its burn.

The first successful launch of an Atlas Centaur occurred in November 1963, placing a mock-up payload into orbit. It marked the first time a rocket powered in part by liquid hydrogen had reached orbit. Despite this success, four of the first five launches ended in failure, including the AC-5 test flight which fell back onto its launch pad and exploded after an engine failure two seconds after liftoff, resulting in a fireball which caused significant damage to the launch complex.

Eventually the Atlas-Centaur became a successful and reliable launch system, and by the time the Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR, the last variant to be explicitly named Atlas-Centaur, made its final flight in May 1983, it had achieved 51 successful launches from 61 attempts. The Atlas SLV-3D Centaur-D1AR was replaced by the Atlas G, which used the same Centaur-D1AR, but with a stretched first stage. It made seven launches between 1984 and 1989 with two failures.

The Atlas I was the first member of the Atlas family to be identified using a numeral rather than a letter. Essentially identical to the Atlas G, it featured improved guidance systems, including digital components. Operated between July 1990 and April 1997, eleven were launched with three failures.

The Atlas I was replaced by the more capable Atlas II, which featured a stretched first stage and a stretched Centaur, as well as more powerful engines on the first stage and booster unit. The Atlas II first flew in December 1991, with the Atlas IIA; a variant with uprated Centaur engines, making its first flight in June 1992.

A third variant, the Atlas IIAS, which featured four Castor-4A solid rocket motors augmenting the first stage, began flying in December 1993. In all, the three Atlas II variants made 63 launches, all of which were successful. The last, an Atlas IIAS, was launched on 31 August 2004.

The Atlas III was a short-lived rocket, operated from May 2000 to February 2005. The Atlas IIIA offered a similar payload capacity to the Atlas IIAS, whilst the Atlas IIIB had a greater capacity through use of a stretched Centaur.

It bridged the gap between the Atlas II and the Atlas V; introducing a conventional first stage design, the Russian-built RD-180 main engine, and the single-engine Centaur upper stage for all Atlas IIIA launches, and as an option for the Atlas IIIB. Two Atlas IIIAs were launched, along with one Atlas IIIB with a conventional twin-engine Centaur, and three IIIBs with the newer single-engine model.

The Atlas V made its maiden flight on 21 August 2002, carrying the Hot Bird 6 satellite for Eutelsat. It introduced multiple configurations, with four and five metre fairings, any number between zero and five boosters, and single of dual engine Centaur upper stages.

To date, all launches have used the single-engine Centaur, and a dual-engined version has not yet been developed, however following Thursday’s announcement that the Atlas V 412 configuration would be used to launch Boeing’s CST-100 spacecraft from 2015, a dual engine Centaur will now need to be developed.

The first stage of the Atlas V is the Common Core Booster (CCB). Like the Common Booster Cores used on the Delta IV, the CCB was designed to be stacked in parallel, allowing a “Heavy” Atlas V with three CCBs. This has never flown, with development being abandoned in favour of the Delta IV Heavy. It is possible; however, that it may be needed to support manned commercial missions in the future.

The Common Core Booster is fuelled by RP-1 propellant, oxidised by liquid oxygen. A single RD-180 engine powers the stage. The Centaur second stage is powered by an RL10A-4-2 burning liquid hydrogen in liquid oxygen. The five solid rocket motors were manufactured by Aerojet, and provide an average of around 1.1 meganewtons of thrust each.

The launch of Juno began with the ignition of the RD-180 main engine, 2.7 seconds before the countdown reached zero. At T-0, the solid rocket motors ignited, and about 1.1 seconds later AV-029 began a fast climb away from Cape Canaveral. A second after liftoff, the vehicle reached maximum thrust, and after another 1.7 seconds it began to manoeuvre to the correct attitude for its ascent to orbit.

About 34.5 seconds into its mission, AV-029 passed through Mach 1, beginning supersonic flight. A little under twelve seconds later it experienced Max-Q, the area of maximum dynamic pressure. The solid boosters burnt out 85 to 90 seconds after launch, and 104 seconds into the flight they were jettisoned.

Three minutes and 24.9 seconds into the flight, the payload fairing separated from around Juno. After this, the forward load reactor, which helps to dampen vibrations within the fairing, was also jettisoned. Around 233 seconds after launch the RD-180 engine throttled down to maintain a constant acceleration of 5G, in order to limit stresses on the payload.

Booster Engine Cutoff, the end of first stage flight, came with the depletion of the CCBs propellant, about four minutes and 27.2 seconds after launch. Six seconds later the CCB separated from the Centaur, which ignited ten seconds after separation to begin the first of two burns. This first burn lasted five minutes and fifty eight seconds.

Once the burn was complete, the Centaur entered a coast phase lasting thirty minutes, 48.2 seconds. The second and last Centaur burn was then performed, lasting nine minutes and seven tenths of a second. With the final burn complete AV-029 manoeuvred to the correct attitude for spacecraft separation, which came 53 minutes, 49.2 seconds into the mission.

AV-029 was the fiftieth rocket to be launched from Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Built as a Titan IIIC launch pad in the 1960s, Launch Complex 41 was first used in December 1965. It was originally part of the Integrate-Transfer-Launch complex, along with LC-40.

Rockets were assembled in the Vertical Integration Building (VIB), and then moved to the launch pad on rails, before the payload was installed at the pad using the mobile service tower. The VIB was demolished in 2006.

Following ten Titan IIIC launches between 1965 and 1969, mostly carrying IDSCP and Vela satellites, the complex was modified to accommodate the Titan IIIE. This Titan configuration, which used a Centaur-D1T upper stage, made seven launches from LC-41, and following its failure to launch the Sphinx satellite in February 1974, the Titan IIIE successfully dispatched the Viking probes to Mars, the Voyager probes to the outer planets, and the Helios probes to study the Sun.

Following the last Titan IIIE launch in 1977, LC-41 was disused for several years, until the Titan IV programme started. Between 1989 and 1999, ten Titan IV launches were conducted from SLC-41, beginning with the type’s maiden flight on 14 June 1989. In 1997, the complex was renamed from Launch Complex 41 to Space Launch Complex 41.

The last two Titan launches from SLC-41 ended in failure; the penultimate launch was the final flight of the Titan IVA, which was flying the NROL-7 mission to deploy a Mercury signals intelligence satellite. The rocket, Titan IV(401)A A-20 or K-17, named Elwood by its launch crew after Dan Aykroyd’s character in The Blues Brothers (the Centaur was named Jake after John Belushi’s character), was destroyed by range safety 40 seconds after launch following a guidance system malfunction.

The final Titan to launch from SLC-41 was a Titan IV(402)B, carrying a Defense Support Program satellite. This vehicle, B-27 or K-32, reached orbit, and the first stage of its Inertial Upper Stage fired to place the payload into its transfer orbit; however the first and second stages of the IUS failed to separate, and upon ignition of the second stage the vehicle began to spin out of control.

The burn failed to place the spacecraft into this correct target orbit, and in addition the spacecraft sustained damage which caused a fuel line to rupture shortly after spacecraft separation.

Six months after the Titan IV made its last launch from the complex the fixed and mobile service towers were demolished, and the pad was converted for the Atlas V. The first Atlas V launch from the pad was the maiden flight, in August 2002.

The first five Atlas V launches from SLC-41 all deployed commercial communications satellites. The sixth launch deployed NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the seventh was that of the New Horizons spacecraft.

Since then, three more commercial communications satellites have been launched, in addition to NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Solar Dynamics Observatory, two X-37B flights, the mysterious USA-207 “PAN” satellite, and several military payloads for the US Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office. AV-029 is the twenty third Atlas V to fly from SLC-41; the other four were launched from SLC-3E at Vandenberg Air Force Base.

AV-029 was assembled in the Vertical Integration Facility; a tower located 550 metres southeast of Space Launch Complex 41, which is used to assemble all Atlas V rockets launched from the complex. Assembled atop a mobile launch platform, AV-029 was rolled to the launch pad Thursday, with rollout beginning at 12:01 UTC, and lasting about 39 minutes.

The local weather - as expected – was not a concern for a launch on 5 August, as much as there were some concern regarding Tropical Storm Emily.

As of Wednesday evening, the storm was about 1850 kilometres to the southeast of Cape Canaveral, moving to the west-northwest before being expected to head northwest. Due to possible landfall in the Caribbean, it was not possible to predict exactly where the storm will go, or whether it could have affected the launch. In the end, it didn’t become a factor.

This was the fourth of five Atlas V launches being conducted this year; the fifth is expected to occur in late November, with the Curiosity rover bound for Mars. Before

then, United Launch Alliance are expected to launch two Delta II rockets. A Delta II 7920H will deploy the GRAIL spacecraft in early September, and then a Delta II 7920 will launch the NPP weather satellite in late October. It still remains unclear whether or not these will be the last flights of Delta II rockets.

(Images via Larry Sullivan – MaxQ Entertainment/NASASpaceflight.com, L2 Historical’s 500gbs of hi res photos, and NASA.gov)

(As the shuttle fleet retire, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet. Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ - to view how you can support NASASpaceflight.com)

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Atlas V For The Win:

The two stage rocket is driven by the Russian-built RD AMROSS RD-180 engine – a kerosene/liquid oxygen derivative of the RD-170 engine developed for the Zenit boosters of the Energia rocket – with a Centaur Upper Stage powered by Pratt & Whitney’s RL10 engine burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. Atlas V configurations can include Aerojet strap-on boosters.

The vehicle is fast becoming the post-Shuttle human launcher of choice, with Dream Chaser – a vehicle in the Sierra Nevada Corporation stable – along with Blue Origin and their biconic-shape capsule, already signed up for launches pending their continuation with NASA’s commercial crew program – or possibly via their own commercial ambitions.

With 26 unmanned launches under its belt since its maiden launch in 2002, the Atlas V has a 100 percent mission success rate and will continue to launch major payloads – such as Friday’s Juno mission to Jupiter on behalf of NASA.

The Atlas V selection by Boeing confirmed what was always likely, as much as the CST-100 had three other options; ULA’s Delta IV, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and ATK’s Liberty LV.

“We are pleased Boeing selected the Atlas V rocket and believe it is the right vehicle to help usher in the new commercial era in human spaceflight,” said George Sowers, ULA vice president of Business Development. “The Atlas V is a cost-effective, reliable vehicle and ULA stands ready to support Boeing’s commercial human spaceflight program.”

According to Dr Sowers, the Atlas V will fly in the 412 configuration, involving one solid strap-on booster and a dual-engine Centaur Upper Stage.

The Commercial Crew program consists of developing, manufacturing, testing and evaluating, and demonstrating the CST-100 spacecraft, launch vehicle and ground/mission operations – all part of Boeing’s Commercial Crew Transportation System – for NASA’s new Commercial Crew human spaceflight program that will provide access to the International Space Station.

The CST-100 is a reusable, capsule-shaped spacecraft that includes a crew module and a service module. It relies on proven, affordable materials and subsystem technologies that can transport up to seven people, or a combination of people and cargo.

Boeing are one of four companies to win CCDev-2 awards – and received the largest sum at over $92m. Their CST-100 capsule is compatible with multiple launch vehicles, as much as Atlas V is now confirmed as the initial LV, and can be reused for up to ten missions following a nominal land landing.

Boeing plans to begin wind tunnel testing of the Atlas V and the CST-100 this year and will use the results to complete a preliminary design review of the integrated system in 2012 under the second round of its Commercial Crew Development Space Act Agreement with NASA.

A total of 25 milestones are listed in the Boeing released presentation for CCDev-2, although it is heavily censored, listing only 11 of the milestones, the latter of which will be the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). By the conclusion of the CCDev-2 funding period, Boeing also claim they will be 80 percent complete on their Critical Design Review (CDR).

According to a new CCDev-2 presentation available on L2 – which also avoided listing all 25 milestones – development kicked off with a Delta Systems Definition Review, followed by a Phase 0 Safety review, both of which were completed in May. A Landing Air Bag drop demo was also on the manifest for August 1, to be followed by Phase 1 Wind Tunnel Tests.

October will see the Interim Design Review (IDR) take place, with a Parachute Drop Test demo on the books for next April.

The run up to the PDR will include Service Module Propellant Tank Development Tests and the Launch Vehicle Emergency Detection System (EDS)/Avionics System Integration Facility Interface Simulation testing taking place.

Notably, the EDS testing closely matches the work on the Atlas V Human Rating effort, which is being undertaken as an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA), as announced as part of Atlas V’s role with the Dream Chaser spacecraft.

Boeing claim they will be ready to provide services by 2015, a target date which is being used by most of the CCDev-2 award winners.

“This selection marks a major step forward in Boeing’s efforts to provide NASA with a proven launch capability as part of our complete commercial crew transportation service,” said John Elbon, vice president and program manager of Commercial Crew Programs and the source selection official for Boeing.

If NASA selects Boeing for a development contract with sufficient funding, ULA will provide launch services for an autonomous orbital flight, a transonic autonomous abort test launch, and a crewed launch, all in 2015.

(Images:  Boeing)  (As the shuttle fleet retire, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles. 

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CCDEV-2:

With the US now paying for seats on the Russian Soyuz following the retirement of the Space Shuttle, the goal of CCDev-2 is to accelerate the availability of US crew transportation capabilities – both commercial and government – to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) destinations, such as the ISS.

NASA’s CCDev initiatives – which began back in 2009 to stimulate efforts within US industry to develop and demonstrate human spaceflight capabilities – are now in a key phase, although further rounds will be forthcoming, ahead of final selections and full contract awards.

Right now, NASA are providing funds via awards, ranging from $22m to $93m, to the four successful CCDEV-2 companies, as outlined at the start of an expansive and unreleased NASA CCDev-2 presentation, acquired by L2.

“CCDev 2 Announcement (AFP) was released to industry in October: The goals of CCDev 2 investments: Advance orbital commercial CTS concepts. Enable significant progress on maturing the design and development of elements of the system, such as launch vehicles and spacecraft. Accelerate the availability of U.S. CTS capabilities.

“New competition open to all U.S. commercial providers for NASA Space Act Agreements (SAAs). Pay-for-Performance milestones, 14 months performance. Proposals received on Dec 13th. Awards announced April 18th. Approx $269M to four industry partners.”

With the highly important goal of establishing commercial crew vehicles as the primary means for ISS crew transportation, the Agency was authorized funding levels for FY11 – FY13 which were lower than President’s request.

However, though Space Act Agreements (SAA), the amounts of allocated funding to the four winners raised no objections, with Blue Origin receiving $22 million, Sierra Nevada Corporation – $80 million, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) – $75 million, and The Boeing Company $92.3 million.

SNC with Dream Chaser:

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) class themselves as the complete system provider and claim to have demonstrated significant progress maturing design and development of the Dream Chaser (DC) Space System (DCSS).

SNC are receiving unpublished amounts of money from their $80m award pot, following each successful completion of their 19 milestones, the latter of which is listed as the Free Flight Test, which will be a piloted Flight test from carrier aircraft to characterize handling qualities and approach and landing.

Dream Chaser is a Reusable, Piloted Lifting Body, Derived from NASA HL­‐20 launching on an Atlas V. A recent unfunded SAA with the United Launch Alliance (ULA) encouraged the continuing efforts to Human Rate the Atlas V launch vehicle,

“During CCDev-2, SNC plans to mature the Dream Chaser crew transportation system design through a Preliminary Design Review (PDR) with subsystems to the Critical Design Review (CDR),” noted the CCDev-2 presentation (L2). “SNC will also fabricate an atmospheric flight test vehicle, conduct analysis and risk mitigation, and conduct significant hardware testing.”

Milestones, which are listed alongside a schedule document – include a Systems Requirements Review (SRR), Canted Airfoil Fin Selection, and work on their Cockpit Based Flight Simulator – all completed in June and July.

Other listed notables include the delivery of the Engineering Test Article (ETA) in December, prior to the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) – scheduled for the end of May, 2012.

While Dream Chaser may not be the first vehicle to commercially transport astronauts to the ISS, their “baby shuttle orbiter” design has won large amounts of admiration from within the space flight community.

Boeing with CST-100:

Boeing’s award – the largest at over $92m – is centered around their CST-100 capsule, which is configurable to carry up to seven crew/passengers or an equivalent combination of passengers and pressurized cargo to LEO destinations, including ISS and the BA-330 space complex.

The capsule is compatible with multiple launch vehicles, and – following nominal land landings – the vehicle can be reused for up to ten missions. The capsule is currently favored to ride atop of the Atlas V launch vehicle.

A total of 25 milestones are listed in the Boeing released presentation for CCDev-2, although it is heavily censored, listing only 11 of the milestones, the latter of which will be the Preliminary Design Review (PDR). By the conclusion of the CCDev-2 funding period, Boeing also claim they will be 80 percent complete on their Critical Design Review (CDR).

According to the new CCDev-2 presentation – which also avoided listing all 25 milestones – development kicked off with a Delta Systems Definition Review, followed by a Phase 0 Safety review, both of which were completed in May. A Landing Air Bag drop demo was also on the manifest for August 1, to be followed by Phase 1 Wind Tunnel Tests.

October will see the Interim Design Review (IDR) take place, with a Parachute Drop Test demo on the books for next April.

The run up to the PDR will include Service Module Propellant Tank Development Tests and the Launch Vehicle Emergency Detection System (EDS)/Avionics System Integration Facility Interface Simulation testing taking place.

Notably, the EDS testing appears to closely match the work on the Atlas V Human Rating effort, a potential clue as to how closely these two vehicles are associating themselves.

Boeing claim they will be ready to provide services by 2015, a target date which is being used by most of the CCDev-2 award winners.

Blue Origin:

Blue Origin’s $22m award was for their their biconic-shape capsule, which will initially launch with the Atlas V launch vehicle, prior to hitching a lift uphill via its own Reusable Booster System (RBS).

The vehicle is capable of carrying seven passengers – with an ability for cargo runs – to the ISS, and will be available for independent commercial flights for science, adventure and trips to other orbital destinations.

It is also capable of a 210 day ISS lifeboat role, something Orion (MPCV) was going to be tasked with during its dark days surrounding the cancellation of the Constellation Project (CxP), prior to being re-promoted as a Beyond Earth Object (BEO) vehicle by NASA.

The Blue Origin vehicle has mostly shunned the public limelight, although the new CCDev-2 presentation provides some details on the key development milestones.

“During CCDev-2, Blue Origin with mature their Space Vehicle design through System Requirements Review (SRR), mature the Pusher Escape System, and accelerate engine development for the Reusable Booster System (RBS),” noted the presentation.

While all of the aforementioned events have received their “kick off” meetings, the listed milestones include the Space Vehicle Mission Concept Review, which will take place in September, ahead of key Pusher Escape Test Vehicle shipment and ground firing either side of the new year.

A Pusher Escape Pad Escape Test is scheduled for April, 2012, followed by the SRR in May – the month which will result in the opening RBS Engine Thrust Chamber Assembly (TCA) test.

SpaceX with Falcon 9/Dragon:

By far the most famous of the four CCDev-2 award winners – and likely to be a no-brainer for advancing further – SpaceX won’t be surprising anyone by showing they are making good progress with their Dragon vehicle, which will – of course – launch via their own Falcon 9 launch vehicle.

With one test flight already under their belts, most of the focus is on the Launch Abort System (LAS), which will be required prior to allowing human passengers on board for riding uphill with the California-based company.

“SpaceX will mature the flight-proven Falcon 9/Dragon transportation system, focusing on developing an integrated side-mounted Launch Abort System,” noted the NASA oversight presentation.

The listed milestones mainly focus on this LAS effort, with the Propulsion Conceptual Design Review already in the bag, as will the Design Status Review (DSR-1), which was manifested as August 1 on the schedule.

Upcoming over the next few months will be the LAS Propulsion Components PDR in September, followed by the Crew Accommodation Concept Prototype and In-Situ Trial 1 and 2, listed as October of this year and January of 2012 respectively.

The DSR-2 should be completed before the year is out, prior to two key LAS milestones in April and May of 2012, namely the LAS Propulsion Components Test Articles Complete element, and the Initial Test Cycle. The Concept Baseline Review will round off a busy May.

Dragon’s integrated LAS is far more than just a means of aborting a launch in the event of a serious issue. Unlike the traditional tractor system – which is jettisoned shortly after the key events of ascent – SpaceX’s LAS remains integrated into the spacecraft, allowing for the potential of a rocket-assisted touchdown on land.

Such a rocket-assisted landing also allows for the potential for landings on the moon and Mars, without the need for additional hardware, or additional vehicles, such as landers.

Mars was one of the key subjects presented by SpaceX founder Elon Musk during Monday’s AIAA speech, claiming it is the sole aim of SpaceX to establish transport links with the Red Planet.

Partner Integration:

One of the most impressive elements of the CCDev drive is the funding and encouragement provided to these commercial companies to mature their systems, via the oversight role of NASA’s vast experience and safety requirements.

A large section of the presentation overviews the requirements and roles of the partner integration approach, which literally embeds NASA into the commercial companies, allowing for the oversight role and ensuring NASA standards of safety are being reached, ahead of any crews flying in one of the vehicles.

“Partner Integration Team members are predominantly based at NASA Centers; however, when negotiated and agreed to by the Commercial Partner, a small number of CCP NASA personnel will be embedded at or near the partner’s facility,” lists one of the pages on the approach,” noted the presentation.

“Embedded personnel can consist of either Core Team and/or Support Team member. It is expected that the members of the Core team will be at the Partner facility most of the time. Partner Integration Team support will be tailored in accordance with the SAA and will accommodate CCP and Commercial Partner needs. Invitations of NASA personnel for CP activities are managed only by the Partner Manager.”

The required role also notes that NASA will provide technical expertise to the Commercial Partner through feedback which utilizes two approaches during the evaluation of CCDev milestones.

“Formal – Official milestone review and approval at successful milestone completion. Informal – Technical comments provided to assist the partner without issuing direction or requiring disposition,” the presentation adds. “The Partner Integration Team is not authorized to issue direction to the Commercial Partner.”

Despite NASA bringing money to the table, and their obvious expertise in launching humans into space, the NASA personnel tasked with involvement within the commercial companies will not be allowed to overstep their mark and boss the commercial companies around.

“NASA personnel participate with CCDev partners in their system development as defined by the SAA. CCDev partners have final authority and responsibility for all decisions related to their system development and operations,” the presentation continued.

“NASA personnel will not dictate nor propose specific design or operational solutions to CCDev partners. NASA personnel will ensure fairness and consistency when responding to the commercial company requests. A commercial partner’s design solution or technical approach will not be shared with other commercial companies.”

The companies were also reassured that none of their “secrets” will find their way into the hands of the public – or other “rival” companies – with the NASA representatives treated on a “need to know” basis. As such, it is likely that progress reports on milestones will continue to be noted, while technical details and drawings related to the hardware will remain restricted.

(Images: L2 Content, NASA CCDev, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing)

(As the shuttle fleet retire, NSF and L2 are providing full transition level coverage, available no where else on the internet, from Orion and SLS to ISS and COTS/CRS/CCDEV, to European and Russian vehicles. 

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Juno Mission Latest:

The $1 billion NASA mission will see Juno placed into a polar orbit of the largest planet in our solar system, following a five year journey from Earth.

Built by Lockheed Martin, Juno will investigate the planet by orbiting Jupiter’s poles 33 times – at 160,000 km per hour, making it the fastest man-made object in history – to find out more about the gas giant’s origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.

The 8,000-pound solar-powered spacecraft will deploy eight scientific instruments, with key electronics placed inside an armoured vault, in order to protect them against Jupiter’s deadly radiation. The instruments will determine how much water Jupiter holds, a key factor in finding out how the planet was formed.

With of the interplanetary expedition set to begin on August 5 from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral – with a window ranging from 11:34am to 12:43pm Eastern – the mission is in the business end of the launch preparations, which included the successful Flight Readiness Review (FRR).

“The Juno FRR was held, with Board concurrence given to proceed with processing towards August 5th launch date. No actions were issued,” noted flow notes (L2). Integrated Systems Test (IST) has also been completed after the resolution of some minor anomalies, while power-on testing of the spacecraft is set to be completed on Monday.

Launch managers will meet on Monday morning, which will be followed by a Mission Dress Rehearsal (MDR). Managers will also be keeping a close eye on the weather, with forecasts noting a large tropical wave has the potential to threaten the Florida coastline as a tropical cyclone – although such a threat is unlikely to affect the initial August 5 launch attempt.

The launch vehicle tasked with sending Juno uphill is the ULA Atlas V, in the 551 configuration – the most powerful set up ever used for the vehicle which is also being touted for a manned role via NASA’s commercial missions to the International Space Station (ISS).

The vehicle consists of the Atlas V booster stage, the Centaur upper stage, five solid rocket boosters (SRB), and a 5-meter payload fairing (PLF).

The booster arrived via an Antonov An-124 plane transport. However, the Atlas’ are now sharing rides on the Delta Mariner from the production facility in Decatur, Alabama – a debut conducted for the most recent arrival to Florida; the Atlas V booster set to launch the Mars Science Lab (MSL) mission for NASA in November.

For this recent sea journey, the booster became the companion of a Core Booster Stage (CBC) for the Delta IV launch vehicle scheduled to launch the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS)-4 mission for the US Air Force. The Mariner also shipped two second stages, as well as a Delta IV Payload Attach Fitting and Fairing.

The Delta CBC has already endured an eventful trip, after the trailer it was riding on was struck by an electrical arc from a power line, during its ride out of the Decatur factory to the Mariner. It is understood the new power line was built lower than a previous line which had been destroyed by a tornado. The Alabama power company has since raised the lines back to the previous height.

Reviews into the health of the CBC have shown no anomalies associated with the event – although testing will continue at Cape Canaveral – leading to the decision to ship the stage in order to maintain schedule for its Atlas ship mate. If – in the unlikely event – a problem is found with the Delta CBC during testing in Florida, the booster will be returned to Alabama on the Mariner’s return journey.

The Mariner – which is capable of carrying up to three common booster cores on the 2,100 mile journey – was originally designed to carry Delta IV hardware from the production plant in Alabama to the launch sites, while the Atlas hardware was delivered from its production facility in Denver, to the launch sites by aircraft.

This changed in 2009, when the Atlas V production line was consolidated in Decatur, leading to ULA evaluations into common transportation options for both vehicles and the potential cost savings.

“ULA is focused on providing the best value to our customers. Utilizing the Mariner to ship both Atlas and Delta launch vehicles simultaneously offers up to $800,000 cost savings per trip and long-term cost savings for our customers,” noted Mark Wilkins, vice president of Program Operations in a press release. “ULA’s formation continues to garner a substantial return on investment and exceeds ULA’s consolidation savings commitment to the United States government.”

(Images via ULA and NASA.gov)

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