Launch News (LAUNCH SUCCESSFUL!) Pegasus XL launched CYGNSS on Dec 15, 2016

[Nicholas Kang]

Note: Pegasus rocket successfully fires into orbit

Latest Updates:

22:13

The CYGNSS satellites were programmed to extend their power-generating solar panels around 10 minutes after separation, but the first contact with the spacecraft is not expected until around three hours after launch.

The launch video:http://spaceflightnow.com/2016/12/15/video-cygnss-launched-by-pegasus-rocket/

Artist's concept of the deployment of the eight Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) microsatellite observatories in space.

Credits: NASA

About the Mission

Our Pegasus XL rocket is scheduled to launch from our L-1011 Stargazer aircraft on December 12, 2016. Stargazer will take off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:26 a.m. EST, with the one-hour launch window opening at 8:19 a.m. The three-stage Pegasus XL will be used to deploy eight small satellites for NASA’s Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) mission into a Low-Earth orbit. Pegasus is carried aloft by Orbital ATK’s Stargazer L-1011 aircraft to approximately 40,000 feet over the Atlantic Ocean, where it will be released and free-fall for five seconds before igniting its first stage rocket motor. With its unique delta-shaped wing, Pegasus will deliver these satellites into orbit in a little over 10 minutes.

CYGNSS, developed by the University of Michigan, will probe the inner core of hurricanes to learn about their rapid intensification. CYGNSS is designed to remedy the inability of current remote sensors to see through the heavy rain in the inner core of a hurricane or to observe changes in the storm over short periods of time.

Mission Fact Sheet

https://www.orbitalatk.com/news-roo...ments/Pegasus_Mission_Outline Dec 2016_x1.pdf

Flight profile

Latest Mission Updates (Click this link to Twitter for latest updates)

1 p.m. – Prelaunch news conference at the Kennedy Press Site

Briefing participants are:

Christine Bonniksen, CYGNSS program executive in the Earth Science Division of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate
Tim Dunn, launch director at Kennedy
Bryan Baldwin, Pegasus launch vehicle program manager with Orbital ATK
John Scherrer, CYGNSS project manager at the Southwest Research Institute
Mike Rehbein, launch weather officer with the 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXDBaQJI7-8"]Science of Small Satellite Constellation Mission Previewed during Briefing - YouTube[/ame]

1:45 p.m. – CYGNSS Mission Science Briefing

Briefing participants include:

Chris Ruf, CYGNSS principal investigator with the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan
Aaron Ridley, CYGNSS constellation scientist with the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan
Mary Morris, doctoral student with the Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering at the University of Michigan

Bonus for orbinauts!

An add-on developer in this forum, Mr. Brian Jones (BrianJ) created an add-on for this mission which can be found here:

[ame="http://orbithangar.com/searchid.php?ID=7021"]CYGNSS[/ame]

Try the mission for yourself. Enjoy!

 

[boogabooga]

Naming is unfortunate.

When I see Orbital ATK "CYGNSS", I think of the ISS resupply vessel.

 

[Andy44]

When I see CYGNSS I think of "Cygnus", the ship from The Black Hole.

Or the Rush song Cygnus X-1...

 

[MaverickSawyer]

An intriguing mission. I wish them the best of luck, as this work will indirectly or directly save thousands of lives and billions of dollars in damages.

 

[IronRain]

CYGNSS launch scrubbed for today after 2 launch atempts.
As far as I was able to follow it, the problems were:

1. Weather
2. HYD pump failure (due to circuit breaker)

L-1011 is RTB.

 

[boogabooga]

They don't fly above the weather?

 

[MaverickSawyer]

They don't fly above the weather?

Could be winds aloft at much higher altitudes than the TriStar can reach.

 

[IronRain]

Spaceflightow: Hydraulic pump glitch scrubs Pegasus launch

Trouble with a hydraulic pump needed to release Orbital ATK’s air-launched Pegasus XL rocket from its carrier jet Monday has delayed the deployment of eight NASA hurricane research satellites until at least Wednesday.

The crew aboard the rocket’s L-1011 carrier aircraft, already airborne flying nearly 40,000 feet (12,000 meters) over the Atlantic Ocean northeast of Cape Canaveral, tried multiple power cycles and old-fashioned elbow grease to get the pump working, but the on-the-fly troubleshooting was unsuccessful.

Dodging thunderstorm cells that could have damaged the rocket’s skin, the airplane’s pilots flew through a predetermined 40-mile by 10-mile (64-kilometer by 16-kilometer) drop box twice in hopes of recovering the balky hydraulic pump and going ahead with the launch of NASA’s $157 million Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System.

The CYGNSS mission consists of eight microsatellites, each slightly larger than a piece of carry-on luggage, to study the winds deep inside hurricanes, measuring conditions currently unseen to satellites flying overhead.

 

[IronRain]

Next launch attempt is today!
Live stream starts at 12:00 GMT and the drop is scheduled for 1326 GMT.

 

[IronRain]

Launch was successful. Launch video:

NASASpaceflight.com: Pegasus launches CYGNSS constellation following Stargazer release

Orbital ATK’s Pegasus rocket finally launched on Thursday, carrying NASA’s CYGNSS environmental research satellite constellation into orbit. The air-launched rocket departed Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard its carrier aircraft ahead of its air-launch release at 08:37 Eastern time (13:37 UTC).