Orb-1 at Pad 0-A awaiting launch, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, NASA Wallops Flight Facility. Credit: Ken Kremer – kenkremer.com
We are again GO FOR LAUNCH of Orb-1 and the 23 SSEP Mission 3b and 4 experiments. There are 6 SSEP community delegations still at Wallops Island, absolutely determined to watch Orb-1 leave the pad.
Fingers crossed.
FYI – the photo above was taken by Ken Kremer from Universe Today. He is covering Orb-1 flight operations and interviewed all 6 SSEP student flight teams yesterday at the Wallops media site for an upcoming story on SSEP.
Below is yesterday’s NASA media advisory providing information on live launch and berthing coverage on NASA TV. To all the thousands of folks watching in SSEP communities across the nation, and in Stonewall, Manitoba, Canada, we are inviting you to Tweet about your experience, and your thoughts, using the hashtag #SSEP1. All tweets with this hashtag will be picked up in the SSEP Twitter feed in the right column on this website so we can have a shared experience. We are inviting all 15 SSEP Mission 5 communities to participate as well (this is a dry run for your May launch!)
And HEY! You can watch it all right here. We’ve included a NASA TV portal in this post right next to the SSEP Twitter Feed. You are also invited to leave a comment below on this post.
NASA TV
Orbital Sciences has confirmed it will proceed with a launch attempt from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va. at 1:07 p.m. EST Thursday, Jan. 9 of its cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, pending closeout of all remaining prelaunch reviews and tests.
NASA Television launch coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. A post-launch news conference would follow at approximately 2:30 p.m.
Wednesday’s launch of Orbital’s Cygnus cargo spacecraft on an Antares rocket was scrubbed because of high levels of space radiation that exceeded established rocket constraints. Orbital conducted a comprehensive review Wednesday of data related to the radiation environment in space, the rocket’s avionics systems, and weather forecast at Wallops. Following the review, Orbital’s engineering team, in consultation with NASA, determined the risk to launch success is within acceptable limits established at the outset of the Antares program.
A Thursday launch would result in the Cygnus spacecraft arriving at the space station early Sunday, Jan. 12. NASA TV coverage of rendezvous and berthing will begin at 5 a.m. for a 6:02 a.m. capture. Coverage of Cygnus’ installation will begin at 7 a.m.
For the latest information on news conference and coverage times, visit:
For more information about Orbital’s cargo mission and International Space Station, visit:
-end-
Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1100
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov
Josh Byerly
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
josh.byerly@nasa.gov
The Student Spaceflight Experiments Program (SSEP) is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE) in the U.S., and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education internationally. It is enabled through a strategic partnership with NanoRacks LLC, working with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory. SSEP is the first pre-college STEM education program that is both a U.S. national initiative and implemented as an on-orbit commercial space venture.
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), Carnegie Institution of Washington, NASA Nebraska Space Grant Consortium, and Subaru of America, Inc. are National Partners on the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program.
We are so excited here in Rochester, NY! Better than being a kid at Christmas!! We will be watching live!