dkrause@orion.cf.uci.edu (Doug Krause) (10/04/88)
Okay, I have question. Everybody's saying "that was a great launch" and "wasn't that launch beautiful" and "there goes another perfect launch". Just what is the launch? I imagine it starts at T0 (or T+0.0000001) but when does it end? My roommate says when they reach orbit, I have no idea. Any takers? Douglas Krause "APL is for martians" -Al Stevens -------------------------------------------------------------------- University of California, Irvine ARPANET: dkrause@orion.cf.uci.edu "Irvine? Where's Irvine?" BITNET: DJKrause@ucivmsa
cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu (Charles Lord) (10/05/88)
OK Henry: here's another one... I vote that the "launch" which begins with SRB ignition (ain't no turning back then, folks...) and would end with MECO. The alternative end could be the ?OIB? (whatever they call the orbit injection burn at apogee in order to make the orbit more circular). Then again, I could be all wrong. ;-) -- * Charles Lord ..!decvax!mcnc!ecsvax!cjl Usenet (old) * * Cary, NC cjl@ecsvax.UUCP Usenet (new) * * #include <std.disclamers> cjl@ecsvax.BITNET Bitnet * * #include <cutsey.quote> cjl@ecsvax.uncecs.edu Internet *
jkw@a.lanl.gov (Jay Wooten) (10/05/88)
> ........ Just what is the launch? I imagine it starts at T0 (or > T+0.0000001) but when does it end? My roommate says when they reach > orbit, I have no idea. Any takers? When they cut to the first commercial :-( ~ Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare ~ ~ The lone and level sands stretch far away................. ~ Jay Wooten Los Alamos National Lab ARPA: jkw@lanl.gov
cc1@valhalla.cs.ucla.edu (R...for Rabbit) (10/05/88)
In article <1055@orion.cf.uci.edu> dkrause@orion.cf.uci.edu (Doug Krause) writes: >Okay, I have question. Everybody's saying "that was a great launch" >and "wasn't that launch beautiful" and "there goes another perfect >launch". Just what is the launch? I imagine it starts at T0 (or >T+0.0000001) but when does it end? My roommate says when they reach >orbit, I have no idea. Any takers? The launch lasts from T0 until the time you stop watching TV/the sky and go back to work/school... --R for Rabbit PS... :-), of course...
mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) (10/05/88)
From article <1055@orion.cf.uci.edu>, by dkrause@orion.cf.uci.edu (Doug Krause): > Okay, I have question. Everybody's saying "that was a great launch" > and "wasn't that launch beautiful" and "there goes another perfect > launch". Just what is the launch? I imagine it starts at T0 (or > T+0.0000001) but when does it end? My roommate says when they reach > orbit, I have no idea. Any takers? > Douglas Krause "APL is for martians" -Al Stevens Well, I have to agree with your roommate. I would say that the launch ends at the end of powered flight, when you're no longer riding a pillar of fire to avoid ending up in the ocean. However on a mission like STS26, at MECO (SSME Main Engine Cutoff) when the External Tank separates, T+8.5 min, the orbit perigee is only 65 km which is low enough that you'd reenter in 90 min if you stay in that orbit. So the OMS-2 circularization burn at 44 min into the flight (making the orbit 295 km circular) is really still part of the launch in a wider sense, although normally it would not be considered enough. I start breathing again at MECO and ET sep. (OK, I know, I'm pretty blue in the face by then!) Jonathan McDowell
kenny@m.cs.uiuc.edu (10/05/88)
If you want to be pedantic, `launch' terminates when the spacecraft has cleared the tower and control switches from KSC to Houston. The remainder of the period until main engine cut-off is the `boost phase.'
woolsey@nsc.nsc.com (Jeff Woolsey) (10/06/88)
I guess space starts at 1000 feet up. As Discovery cleared the tower, CAPCOM said words to the effect of "America returns to space as discoverey clears the tower". -- -- And Leon's getting LARGER! Jeff Woolsey woolsey@nsc.NSC.COM -or- woolsey@umn-cs.cs.umn.EDU
klr@hadron.UUCP (Kurt L. Reisler) (10/06/88)
In article <1055@orion.cf.uci.edu> dkrause@orion.cf.uci.edu (Doug Krause) writes: >Okay, I have question. Everybody's saying "that was a great launch" >and "wasn't that launch beautiful" and "there goes another perfect >launch". Just what is the launch? I imagine it starts at T0 (or >T+0.0000001) but when does it end? My roommate says when they reach >orbit, I have no idea. Any takers? In my personal view, the launch was successful (and I was able to resume "normal" breathing, at MECO (main engine cut off). That that point they are in space, although it still takes the OMS burn to complete orbital transition. Although I am sure there is a "correct" answer (and I would love to hear it), this is my opinion.
klr@hadron.UUCP (Kurt L. Reisler) (10/06/88)
In article <755@a.lanl.gov> jkw@a.lanl.gov (Jay Wooten) writes: >> ........ Just what is the launch? I imagine it starts at T0 (or >> T+0.0000001) but when does it end? My roommate says when they reach >> orbit, I have no idea. Any takers? > > When they cut to the first commercial :-( > No commercials on NASA Select. [.signature included for inews' sake] Kurt Reisler (703) 359-6100 ============================================================================ UNISIG Chairman, DECUS US Chapter | Hadron, Inc. ..{uunet|sundc|rlgvax|netxcom|decuac}!hadron!klr | 9990 Lee Highway Sysop, Fido 109/74 The Bear's Den (703) 671-0598 | Suite 481 Sysop, Fido 109/483 The Pot of Gold (703) 359-6549 | Fairfax, VA 22030 ============================================================================
jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu (Jay C. Smith) (10/06/88)
In article <788@hadron.UUCP> klr@hadron.UUCP (Kurt L. Reisler) writes: >In article <755@a.lanl.gov> jkw@a.lanl.gov (Jay Wooten) writes: >> When they cut to the first commercial :-( > >No commercials on NASA Select. How about when they cut away from showing the shuttle (since it has disappeared into the haze, so to speak) or when they cut to the replays of the launch? :-) -- "I don't suppose you have any idea what the damn thing is, huh?" --------------------------------------------------------------------- Jay C. Smith uucp: ...!mcnc!ncsuvx!ncspm!jay Domain: jay@ncspm.ncsu.edu internet: jay%ncspm@ncsuvx.ncsu.edu
phil@titan.rice.edu (William LeFebvre) (10/06/88)
In article <1113@cfa237.cfa250.harvard.edu> mcdowell@cfa250.harvard.edu (Jonathan McDowell) writes: >From article <1055@orion.cf.uci.edu>, by dkrause@orion.cf.uci.edu (Doug Krause): >However on a mission like >STS26, at MECO (SSME Main Engine Cutoff) when the External Tank >separates, T+8.5 min,... Just to clarify (some people know this, some don't) MECO is at 8:38 and ETsep is at 8:50. They're distinct events separated by about 10 seconds. >...I start breathing again at MECO and >ET sep. (OK, I know, I'm pretty blue in the face by then!) I start breathing again at SRB-sep (when the solids shut down and go away). Once they get to that point, they have options should something go wrong. Between T0 and SRB-sep (T+2:04) they're sitting ducks. If anything goes wrong they're stuck until the SRBs are done burning. There are still things that could cause serious if not catastrophic problems between SRB-sep and MECO, but I feel alot better during that time than during the first 2 minutes. I start breathing again...I just don't blink. Apparently there was a (brief) round of applause in mission control just after SRB-sep happened (or was it launch control??....dang, my memory's already going). William LeFebvre Department of Computer Science Rice University <phil@Rice.edu>