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Ariane 5 Live LAUNCH Thread Today @ 1:30PM PDT/4:30PM EDT
SpaceFlightNow.com ^ | 29AUG2013 | None given

Posted on 08/29/2013 12:02:25 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine

Rocket: Ariane 5 ECA Payload: Eutelsat 25B & GSAT 7 Launch date: August 29, 2013 Launch window: 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT) Site: ELA-3, Guiana Space Center, Kourou French Guiana

Watch the launch at these links.

www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va215/status.html or http://arianespace.tv/


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS: ariane; launch; rocket
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Latests updates:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28, 2013 A European Ariane 5 rocket is on the launch pad after a 1.7-mile rail journey this morning at the Guiana Space Center in South America.

The 17-story launcher arrived at the launch pad around midday after being towed from its final assembly building by a heavy-duty Titan truck.

After its arrival at the ELA-3 launch zone near the Atlantic coast of French Guiana, the Ariane 5 rocket was to be connected to the launch pad via electrical, communications and plumbing lines ahead of the start of the launch countdown early Thursday.

The launcher's payload fairing contains the Eutelsat 25B/Es'hail 1 and GSAT 7 communications satellites for satellite operators Eutelsat and Es'hailSat - of Paris and Qatar - and the Indian Navy.

It will mark the fourth of five planned Ariane 5 launches this year, and the 71st Ariane 5 flight overall since 1996.

Liftoff is scheduled for 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT; 5:30 p.m. local time) at the opening of a 50-minute launch window.

Final Ariane 5 countdown procedures are scheduled to begin around 0900 GMT (5 a.m. EDT). A check of electrical systems was scheduled to occur around 1300 GMT (9 a.m. EDT).

Workers will also put finishing touches on the launch pad, including the closure of doors, removal of safety barriers and configuring fluid lines for fueling.

The launch team will begin the process to fuel the rocket with super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants at 1540 GMT (11:40 a.m. EDT). First, ground reservoirs will be pressurized, then the fuel lines will be chilled down to condition the plumbing for the flow of super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which are stored at approximately minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively.

It will take approximately two hours to fill the Ariane 5 core stage tanks.

A similar procedure for the Ariane 5's cryogenic upper stage will commence at 1640 GMT (12:40 p.m. EDT).

Chilldown conditioning of the Vulcain 2 first stage engine will occur at 1740 GMT (1:40 p.m. EDT), and a communications check between the rocket and ground telemetry, tracking and command systems is scheduled for 1920 GMT (3:20 p.m. EDT).

The computer-controlled synchronized countdown sequence will begin seven minutes before launch to pressurize propellant tanks, switch to on-board power and take the rocket's guidance system to flight mode.

The Vulcain 2 engine will ignite as the countdown clock reaches zero, followed by a health check and ignition of the Ariane 5's solid rocket boosters seven seconds later to send the 1.7 million-pound launcher skyward.

Five seconds after blastoff, the rocket will begin pitching east from the ELA-3 launch pad, surpassing the speed of sound less than a minute into the mission. The Ariane 5's twin solid rocket boosters will jettison 2 minutes and 23 seconds after liftoff.

Once above the dense atmosphere, the launcher's payload fairing will fall away at an altitude of about 66 miles. The Ariane 5's first stage will shut down 8 minutes, 46 seconds after liftoff, followed moments later by stage separation and ignition of the hydrogen-fueled cryogenic HM7B upper stage engine.

The rocket's upper stage will fire for nearly 16 minutes, accelerating to a velocity of 20,969 mph miles to reach an orbit with a planned high point of 22,325 miles and a targeted low point of 154 miles.

The release of Eutelsat 25B/Es'hail 1 is scheduled for 27 minutes, 45 seconds. The rocket's barrel-shaped Sylda 5 dual-payload adapter will be jettisoned a few minutes later.

GSAT 7 will separate from the lower portion of the payload stack at 34 minutes, 26 seconds.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 29, 2013 1755 GMT (1:55 p.m. EDT) Fueling of the Ariane 5 rocket with cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen is underway, and chilldown of the first stage's Vulcain 2 main engine has begun to prepare the engine for its 9-minute firing in today's mission.

1 posted on 08/29/2013 12:02:25 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Here are the links again.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ariane/va215/status.html http://arianespace.tv/


2 posted on 08/29/2013 12:03:24 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Remember when the United States had launch capability?
That was cool.


3 posted on 08/29/2013 12:04:22 PM PDT by brownsfan (Behold, the power of government cheese.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Love it! Thanks for the thread and the link.


4 posted on 08/29/2013 12:05:31 PM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: don-o

I can’t seem to separate this link from the other.

http://arianespace.tv/


5 posted on 08/29/2013 12:08:58 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: brownsfan

“Those were the days!!!”
(Archie Bunker ref.)


6 posted on 08/29/2013 12:11:50 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: brownsfan

The Space Race with the Russians was the background of my childhood. I think we watched Sputnik flying over from my grandparents back yard. America’s rockets were exploding on the pad and my Daddy opined, “Russia is going to whip us.”


7 posted on 08/29/2013 12:18:11 PM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

Thanks for the heads up. Is there a space ping list?


8 posted on 08/29/2013 12:19:31 PM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Straight Vermonter; KevinDavis

I believe Kevin had a space ping list - I am not on it; I try to limit that


9 posted on 08/29/2013 12:21:05 PM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: don-o

*** The Space Race with the Russians was the background of my childhood. I think we watched Sputnik flying over from my grandparents back yard. America’s rockets were exploding on the pad and my Daddy opined, “Russia is going to whip us.” ***

Which explains why we excelled in the space program. Americans were in their backyards watching, and wanting to be the best. Today, Americans don’t watch, and think it’s too jingoistic to care.

But Americans do know when Honey Boo Boo is on, and when their EBT cards will be charged up.


10 posted on 08/29/2013 12:35:13 PM PDT by brownsfan (Behold, the power of government cheese.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

15 minutes to webcast


11 posted on 08/29/2013 1:00:04 PM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: don-o

t minus 13 minutes


12 posted on 08/29/2013 1:16:48 PM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: don-o

-10 minutes!


13 posted on 08/29/2013 1:24:00 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: don-o

-5 minutes!


14 posted on 08/29/2013 1:25:38 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: brownsfan

-1:30 left!


15 posted on 08/29/2013 1:28:25 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

internal power

light it up!


16 posted on 08/29/2013 1:29:22 PM PDT by don-o (He will not share His glory, and He will not be mocked! Blessed be the Name of the Lord forever!)
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To: brownsfan
We launched a Delta from California yesterday, supposedly our largest rocket ever. We just can't launch people into space.
17 posted on 08/29/2013 1:35:30 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (Uncle Miltie: Obama poisoned race relations for a generation. Everything is racial now.)
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To: don-o

Meh. Missed it. Didn’t see the thread until now.


18 posted on 08/29/2013 1:36:06 PM PDT by Cyber Liberty (Uncle Miltie: Obama poisoned race relations for a generation. Everything is racial now.)
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To: Cyber Liberty

Don’t worry. SpaceX is planning something even bigger than the Delta IV (22,950kg to LEO) and it will be the man-rated Falcon 9 Heavy (53,000kg to LEO).


19 posted on 08/29/2013 1:41:23 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (IÂ’m not a Republican, I'm a Conservative! Pubbies haven't been conservative since before T.R.)
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To: Jack Hydrazine

I watched the launch.. Heard something about burning 2 tons of fuel per second? WTF?


20 posted on 08/29/2013 1:55:32 PM PDT by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America (If Americans were as concerned for their country as Egyptians are, Obama would be ousted!)
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