Established Member
OK, I've been following this project and, as noted by toSeek in the original Dawn thread, it has arrived in Florida.
I mentioned in the other thread that a new thread should be started and this is as good as time as any for a fresh start.
Latest update on Dawn
Dawn is currently at Astrotech Space Operations in Titusville, 15 miles west of the launchpad. Eighty days and change until launch.
Vulcan Administrator
Yes, but I want to know how far it is from Ceres.
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Established Member
According to JPL, about 3.915 AU.
Vulcan Administrator
Okay, keep us posted.
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Established Member
)¤&Q# Ceres, I want it go to Vesta ASAP...
Ceres may wait...
Vulcan Administrator
Final preparations for Dawn's mission to Ceres and Vesta are under way
I'll just note here what a teeny spacecraft this thing is. The center set of images has some people that show the scale. It's hardly taller than they are. It'd fit in my office with room to spare. Miniaturization of components like science instruments, power and communications systems, and other electronics have really enabled low-cost missions like Dawn.
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Vulcan Administrator
Dawn Journal: What to expect after the launch
Now that launch is so close, let's have a preview of what is planned during this important event. Much of the work on the design of the spacecraft has focused on ensuring that it is prepared for the acceleration, vibration, noise, heat and cold, and other conditions it will experience during the ride to space. And yet for all that effort, as well as the spectacular sights and sounds for observers, this is the shortest phase of the mission. During it, Dawn will be a polite passenger, patiently recording data and awaiting its chance to begin flying on its own in space to undertake its mission of discovery deep in the solar system.
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Vulcan Administrator
Dawn Aims for July 7 Launch, But Delays Make for Tight Window of Opportunity
Despite several nagging "issues that need to be resolved," NASA's Dawn mission to Vesta and Ceres is "pressing full steam ahead for a July 7 launch readiness date," NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs Todd May said in a press briefing today. Minor but time-consuming problems with the preparation of the launch vehicle have caused repeated delays for Dawn's launch readiness date from June 20 to July 7. The delays have pressed the Dawn launch up against the launch period for the Phoenix mission to Mars, causing scheduling headaches and forcing NASA to consider delaying Dawn's launch until September.
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Established Member
hmmph. . .that crane accident was quite inconvenient. Let's just hope for clear weather on the 7th. I'll be on vacation that week, but at a family reunion that particular weekend and will have access to a TV and possibly the internet.
Vulcan Administrator
NASA's Dawn Mission: To Explore 'Dwarf Planet' Ceres And Massive Asteroid Vesta
Christopher T. Russell, UCLA professor of geophysics and space physics, has spent 15 years working on NASA's Dawn mission to the doughnut-shaped asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. As the scheduled July 7 launch from Cape Canaveral nears, Russell is ready, and so is Dawn.
"The spacecraft will spend much less time in space than we put in preparing for the mission," said Russell, the mission's principal investigator. "I want to get this spacecraft up in space, where it belongs. I'm really confident about the spacecraft. We've been testing and retesting."
Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.
Administrator
Do you think it was a bad sign that the Delta II launch vehicle broke into song "Dawn, go away, I'm no good for you".Originally Posted by ToSeek
Order of Kilopi
As reported in what turned into the Dawn launch thread, Dawn getting ready to launch!, Dawn has been placed in a near-perfect parking orbit. In very roughly a half hour, a third-stage burn will start Dawn on her way to the Asteroid Belt.
Now we're making progress!
Repeating from launch thread:
NASA Dawn Mission News: Launch
Post-launch press conference in about 4.5 hours at 1300 EDT; 1000 PDT; 1700 UTCThe second stage will deposit Dawn in a 185-kilometer-high (100-nautical-mile) circular parking orbit in just under nine minutes. At about 56 minutes after launch, the rocket's third and final stage will ignite for approximately 87 seconds. When the third stage burns out, actuators and push-off springs on the launch vehicle will separate the spacecraft from the third stage.
"After separation, the spacecraft will go through an automatic activating sequence, including stabilizing the spacecraft, activating flight systems and deploying Dawn's two massive solar arrays," said Patel. "Then and only then will the spacecraft energize its transmitter and contact Earth. We expect acquisition of signal to occur anywhere from one-and-a-half hours to three-and-a-half hours after launch."
Watch NASA TV
Order of Kilopi
NASA TV coverage has resumed.
Dawn is approaching coast of Africa.
T+50 minutes
Standing by for resumption of telemetry data.
Coming up: reorienting 2nd stage for re-ignition.
Order of Kilopi
2nd stage restart.
Looking good.
Order of Kilopi
2nd stage performing well.
Data quality good.
All nominal.
50 seconds remaining.
Order of Kilopi
2nd stage cutoff. SECO.
All good.
Order of Kilopi
Coming up, 3rd stage spin up.
Got it. Separation.
Order of Kilopi
Ignition of 3rd stage.
Order of Kilopi
good chamber pressure on 3rd stage
t+3390 seconds
Order of Kilopi
3rd stage cutoff. TECO.
all good
Order of Kilopi
Just how long is the delay on NASA-TV? Your post was here before I heard it.
Established Member
I suspect this thread will be a very boring one in terms of milestones. It won't even get to Mars until February or March of 2009.
Order of Kilopi
90 seconds to sep
Soon comes the long wait to see if it can orient itself.
t+3700When the third stage burns out, actuators and push-off springs on the launch vehicle will separate the spacecraft from the third stage.
"After separation, the spacecraft will go through an automatic activating sequence, including stabilizing the spacecraft, activating flight systems and deploying Dawn's two massive solar arrays," said Patel. "Then and only then will the spacecraft energize its transmitter and contact Earth. We expect acquisition of signal to occur anywhere from one-and-a-half hours to three-and-a-half hours after launch."
Have despin
Have separation
Order of Kilopi
Waiting... Waiting... For hours...
State of health will be available at post-launch press conference 1300 EDT; 1000 PDT; 1700 UTC
Watch NASA TV
Moderator
Are we there yet?
Order of Kilopi
I have NASA TV on cable. NASA TV on the web is lagging it by 42 seconds currently.
Established Member
From the Dawn Media Kit, a brief mission timeline. Find the full kit here:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/press_kits/dawn-launch.pdf
Mission
- Launch period: Sept. 26-Oct. 15, 2007
- Launch window: One per day, ranging from 19 to 44 minutes each
- Launch window for Sept. 26: 7:25 to 7:54 a.m. EDT
- Launch site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Pad 17B
- Launch vehicle: Delta II Heavy 2925H-9.5 including Star 48 upper stage
- Earth-Vesta distance at time of launch: 324 million kilometers (202 million miles)
- Mars gravity assist: Feb. 4, 2009
- Vesta arrival: Aug. 14, 2011
- Distance traveled by spacecraft Earth-Vesta: 2.8 billion kilometers (1.8 billion miles)
- Vesta departure: May 22, 2012
- Ceres arrival: Feb. 1, 2015
- Distance traveled by spacecraft Vesta to Ceres: 1.6 billion kilometers (990 million miles)
- Total distance spacecraft traveled from Earth to Vesta to Ceres: 4.9 billion kilometers (3 billion miles)
- End of mission: July 2015
Established Member
Signal from Dawn has been acquired. All systems appear healthy.
Order of Kilopi
Press conference on now, about 10 minutes in.
Watch NASA TV
Everyone looks happy.
Science team (Chris Russell, PI) everyone extremely pleased.
Opened for Q&A.
[Still getting my bearings. Can't transcribe.]
There are 4 minor, minor issues, they called them fine-tuning. No worries.
Q: How far away now?
A: Goes past the moon, 26 hours after launch.
Q/A: Chris Russell, PI, described how he watched launch.
Q/A: First ion engine testing in about 5 days.
Q: What issues might cause it not to rise? [Maybe related to some earlier statment. I don't get this question. 01101001]
A: Every craft has a personality; we're going to find out how well behaved Dawn is.
Delays in program were training opportunities; best trained operations team ever.
Q: When testing science instruments?
A: Checkout now; some require a body, like Mars, for calibration, viewing geometry, outbound from Mars.
That's all... at 20 minutes past the hour.
Last edited by 01101001; 2007-Sep-27 at 05:42 PM. Reason: clarified transcribing
Established Member
NASA TV on cable...
I WANT ESA TV !!!!
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