Antares A-ONE

Antares A-ONE

The assembled Antares A-One rocket inside the Horizontal Integration Facility at Wallops
Mission type Technology demonstration
Operator Orbital Sciences
COSPAR ID 2013-016D
SATCAT № 39145
Mission duration 603 seconds[1]
Spacecraft properties
Spacecraft Cygnus mass simulator
Manufacturer Orbital Sciences
Launch mass 3,800 kg (8,400 lb)
Dimensions 5.061 × 2.896 m (199.25 × 114 in)
Start of mission
Launch date 21 April 2013, 21:00:02.2 (2013-04-21UTC21:00:02) UTC[2][3]
Rocket Antares 110[4]
Launch site MARS LP-0A
Contractor Orbital Sciences
End of mission
Disposal Deorbited
Decay date 10 May 2013 (2013-05-11) UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system Geocentric
Regime Low Earth
Perigee 241 km (150 mi)[5]
Apogee 260 km (162 mi)[5]
Inclination 51.64°[5]
Epoch 21 April 2013

Antares A-ONE was the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences' Antares rocket with a boilerplate payload, the Cygnus Mass Simulator, which was launched 21 April 2013.[6] It was launched from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS) on Wallops Island, Virginia, USA.[5] The boilerplate payload simulates the mass of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft.[5] This dummy payload was sent into an orbit of "approximately 150 by 160 miles" (240 km x 260 km) with an inclination of 51.6 degrees.[6]

Four Spaceflight Inc. CubeSat nanosatellites were deployed from the dummy payload.[7]

This launch along with several other activities leading up to it, are paid milestones under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program.[8]

Payloads

The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator (CMS). It had a height of 199.25 inches (5,061 mm), a diameter of 114 inches (2,900 mm) and a mass of 8,400 pounds (3,800 kg).[9] It was equipped with 22 accelerometers, 2 microphones, 12 digital thermometers, 24 thermocouples and 12 strain gages.[9]

The secondary payloads were four CubeSats that were deployed from the CMS.[9] Three of them were PhoneSats, 1U CubeSats built by NASA's Ames Research Center.[9] These were named Alexander, Graham and Bell, after the inventor of the telephone.[9] The purpose of these three satellites was to demonstrate the use of smartphones as avionics in CubeSats.[9] They each had a mass of 2.48 lb (1.124 kg) and were powered by lithium batteries.[9] The fourth nanosat was a 3U CubeSat, called Dove-1, built by Cosmogia Inc. It carried a "technology development Earth imagery experiment" using the Earth's magnetic field for attitude control.[9][10]

Mission timeline

Attempt Planned Result Turnaround Reason Decision point Weather go (%) Notes
1 17 Apr 2013, 5:00:00 pm scrubbed --- technical 17 Apr 2013, 4:44 pm(T-12 hold) 60%[11] Premature disconnect of upper stage umbilical cable during T-12 hold[12]
2 20 Apr 2013, 6:10:00 pm scrubbed 3 days, 1 hour, 10 minutes weather 20 Apr 2013, 4:30 pm 90% [13]
3 21 Apr 2013, 5:00:02 pm success 0 days, 22 hours, 50 minutes 80% First flight of Antares[14]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. NASA/OSC Pre-launch press conference
  2. "Antares A-ONE Mission Coverage". Spaceflight 101. 21 April 2013. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  3. Clark, Stephen (20 April 2013). "Antares A-One Mission Status Center". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  4. Bergin, Chris (22 February 2012). "Space industry giants Orbital upbeat ahead of Antares debut". NASA Spaceflight. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Antares A-ONE Test Launch Mission Overview" (PDF). Orbital Sciences. 2013. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  6. 1 2 "Orbital Successfully Launches First Antares Rocket" (Press release). Orbital Sciences. 21 April 2013.
  7. Lindsey, Clark (21 March 2013). "Spaceflight Services installs four nanosats on Antares rocket". NewSpace Watch. Retrieved 21 March 2013. (subscription required (help)).
  8. "Space Act Agreement Amendment Seven between NASA and Orbital Sciences Corporation for COTS" (PDF). NASA. March 2012. Retrieved 16 March 2013.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Antares Test Launch "A-ONE Mission" Overview Briefing" (PDF). Orbital Sciences. 17 April 2013. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  10. Mason, James; Safyan, Michael (1 January 2012). "Cosmogia Dove - 1 Orbital Debris Assessment Report". Cosmogia. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
  11. Orbital Sciences (17 April 2013). "Still marching toward the first launch...". Twitter.
  12. Orbital Sciences (17 April 2013). "The umbilical was a data cable connected...". Twitter.
  13. Orbital Sciences (20 April 2013), "#Antares launch attempt scrubbed...", Twitter
  14. Harwood, William (21 April 2013). "Antares rocket climbs into space on maiden flight". CBS News.

External links

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