A launch readiness review on Saturday gave the green light to continue final launch preparations ahead of Tuesday nights liftoff of an Ariane 5 rocket from French Guiana with the last of Europes resupply ships headed for the International Space Station. Officials assessed the status of the Ariane 5 launcher, the Automated Transfer Vehicle payload, ground systems, and the space stations readiness to receive the massive cargo and refueling freighter when it arrives Aug. 12. Liftoff of the Ariane 5 is set for 2344:03 GMT (7:44:03 p.m. EDT) from the ELA-3 launch zone at the Guiana Space Center on the northern coast of South America. The customary readiness review concluded with approval to continue preparing for launch Tuesday. Rollout of the 166-foot-tall rocket, mounted on top of a mobile launch platform, is set to begin before midday Monday. The rocket and its platform will be towed 1.7 miles by a 540-horsepower tug along dual rail tracks leading to the ELA-3 launch zone. Once the Ariane 5 arrives at the tropical launch pad, technicians will connect it to the ground electrical, fluid and communications systems to ready the vehicle for Tuesdays countdown. Powered by twin solid rocket boosters, a hydrogen-fueled main stage and an upper stage burning storable propellants, the launcher is flying in the Ariane 5 ES configuration. The Ariane 5 ES is tailored for low Earth orbit and medium Earth orbit missions, while the more commonly used Ariane 5 ECA, which uses a cryogenic upper stage, regularly puts large telecom satellites in high-altitude orbits. The Ariane 5 will take nearly 64 minutes to put the European Space Agencys fifth Automated Transfer Vehicle into a circular orbit 260 kilometers, or 161 miles, above Earth. From there, the ATV spacecraft will guide itself toward the space station, first for a long-range rendezvous Aug. 8 to check the design a new infrared navigation system. Then the cargo craft will close in on the 450-ton research complex for an automated docking Aug. 12 to the Russian Zvezda service module. The ship is carrying food, experiments, spare parts, fuel, air and water to replenish the space stations reserves.
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 09:29:34 +0000
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