Thursday, December 4, 2014

NASA Scrubs Orion Launch For Today, 4 December 2014


I failed to get up at 4 am here on the west coast to watch the launch.
It turned out the weather and some rocket anomalies scrubbed the launch which will be attempted tomorrow, 5 December 2014.
I have been watching the post launch debrief link that Spaceref.com passed in their daily email.
- LRK -

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NASA Scrubs Orion Launch For Today
December 04, 2014 8:19 AM ET

Update at 9:35 a.m. ET

NASA's Orion spacecraft, which could one day send astronauts to Mars, is stuck on terra firma for at least another day after the space agency's mission control was unable to satisfactorily resolve a number of issues before a 9:45 a.m. launch window closed.

The unmanned vehicle is awaiting its first test in Earth orbit. But after multiple delays for high winds and a stuck liquid-oxygen drain valve on one or more of the Delta IV Heavy rocket's booster engines, NASA didn't have time to get the rocket off the pad. It will try again Friday morning.

The vehicle perched atop the Delta rocket, known officially as Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, or MPCV, is designed to carry up to four astronauts.
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I have been watching NASA TV from a link that Spaceref.com passed.
They have been replaying the Post Launch Debrief to the press.
- LRK -

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http://spaceref.com/live/live-nasa-tv.html


Today's attempt to launch Orion EFT-1 has been scrubbed today after continuing issues with ground winds - and then with fill and drain valves on the Delta IV Heavy Launch vehicle. There were also issues with battery levels on the rocket's video system. The plan seems to be to try again tomorrow with a 7:05 am ET launch time.

Update: According to speakers at today's NASA press briefing, the ship that caused the launch delay was never in a position to present a safety hazard. While winds caused the first two scrubs, the ultimate scrub for the day had to do with sluggish response times for liquid Hydrogen valves on the Atlas IV Heavy. This is an issue that has been seen before on a prior launch. There are also some minor issues having to do with battery life for instrumentation inside of Orion and inside the Delta IV Heavy rocket that are being addressed. If a launch attempt is made tomorrow but is not successful, then ULA will need to skip over Saturday in order to replenish ground tanke supplies. Overall the tone of the briefing was that this all went by the books, the issues are understood and can be handled.
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NASA ORION Latest Information
- LRK -

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Follow the Progress of NASA's New Spacecraft for Human Exploration

Friday Opportunity at 7:05 A.M. EST

The launch team has tentatively set a liftoff time of 7:05 a.m. EST, the opening of a 2-hour, 39 minute window just as today. We will begin our launch coverage at 6 a.m. tomorrow on NASA TV and on the Orion blog. Tune into the blog and NASA.gov for continuing updates throughout the day.

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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK -

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