NASA will launch three rockets early Tuesday morning for the Department of Defense from the Wallops Flight Facility.
The Terrier-Orion suborbital rockets are expected to launch within 20 seconds of each other between 1 and 5 a.m., a NASA news release says.
The space agency says it will not provide a live stream or status updates of the launches at the request of defense officials. The Visitor Center also will not be open.
The rockets may be visible to residents along the coast.
Quelle: PilotOnline
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Rocket Launch Scheduled January 14 from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia
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Three Terrier-Orion suborbital rockets are scheduled for launch between 1 and 5 a.m. EST January 14 for the Department of Defense from Wallops' launch range. The rockets, which will be launched within a 20-second period, may be visible to residents in the mid-Atlantic region.
Image Credit:
NASA/Mission Planning Lab
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WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- Three Terrier-Orion suborbital rockets are scheduled for launch between 1 and 5 a.m. EST January 14 for the Department of Defense from NASA’s launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The backup launch days are January 15 through 18. The rockets, which will be launched within a 20-second period, may be visible to residents in the mid-Atlantic region.
At the request of DoD project managers, no real-time status updates will be available. The launch will not be shown live on the Internet nor will launch status updates be provided on social media once the countdown begins. The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops will not be open for viewing the launch.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 14.01.2014
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Launch of 3 Military Rockets Tonight Visible Along US East Coast
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The U.S. military will launch three rockets from Virginia early Tuesday (Jan. 14) in back-to-back-to-back liftoffs that could be visible to observers in the mid-Atlantic region, weather permitting.
Three Terrier-Orion suborbital rockets are scheduled to blast off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. EST (0600 to 1000 GMT) Tuesday within a span of 20 seconds, on hush-hush missions for the Department of Defense (DoD).
"At the request of DoD project managers, no real-time status updates will be available," NASA officials wrote in a media advisory about the liftoff. "The launch will not be shown live on the Internet, nor will launch status updates be provided on social media once the countdown begins."
But people living relatively close to Wallops Flight Facility, which lies on Virginia's Wallops Island, may be able to see the rockets streaking toward space through a dark sky, according to a visibility map released by NASA. The launches may be visible from parts of southern New Jersey and Delaware, as well as from Virginia's Eastern Shore.
If Tuesday morning's attempt is scrubbed, backup launch opportunities are also available each day from Wednesday through Saturday (Jan. 15-18), NASA officials said.
Terrier-Orion rockets weigh about 2,900 pounds (1,315 kilograms) and are capable of carrying payloads weighing up to 800 pounds (363 kg), according to a NASA description. The rockets can loft a 200-pound (91 kg) payload to an altitude of 124 miles (200 kilometers) and an 800-pound payload 50 miles (80 km) up.
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A NASA Terrier-Improved Orion sounding rocket roars toward space on a mission to create glowing red clouds above Earth on Jan. 29, 2013. The rocket launched from NASA's seaside Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.
Credit: Courtesy of Brea Reeves / NASA/Wallops Flight Facility
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More than 16,000 sounding rockets have blasted off from Wallops since its founding in 1945, but the facility also supports launches that aim farther afield.
NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer spacecraft (LADEE) launched toward the moon from Wallops last September, for example, and Orbital Sciences' robotic Cygnus cargo capsule blasted off for the International Space Station from Wallops just last week.
Cygnus arrived at the orbiting lab on Sunday (Jan. 13), delivering 2,780 pounds (1,260 kg) of supplies and experiments on the first of eight contracted cargo missions Orbital Sciences plans to fly under a $1.9 billion deal that the company signed with NASA.
Quelle: SC
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Update: 15.15 MEZ
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Jan. 14: The launch of 3 suborbital rockets this morning from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility has been postponed because of rain approaching the launch range. The launch has been rescheduled between 1 and 5 a.m., Wednesday, January 15.
WALLOPS ISLAND, Va. -- Three Terrier-Orion suborbital rockets are scheduled for launch between 1 and 5 a.m. EST January 14 for the Department of Defense from NASA’s launch range at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
The backup launch days are January 15 through 18. The rockets, which will be launched within a 20-second period, may be visible to residents in the mid-Atlantic region.
At the request of DoD project managers, no real-time status updates will be available. The launch will not be shown live on the Internet nor will launch status updates be provided on social media once the countdown begins. The NASA Visitor Center at Wallops will not be open for viewing the launch.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 15.01.2014
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Three rockets launched from Wallops Island
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WALLOPS ISLAND
Three Terrier-Orion suborbital rockets launched from the Wallops Flight Facility this morning for the Department of Defense.
The rockets launched within 20 seconds of each other, beginning at 4:09 a.m., according to a NASA news release. The launches had been postponed on Tuesday because of the weather.
The space agency did not provide a live stream or status updates of the launches at the request of defense officials.
The next chances to see a rocket lift off from the Eastern Shore are a few months away. A sounding rocket is scheduled for launch in April and Orbital Sciences will launch an Antares rocket in May.
