Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket lifts off from Launch Complex 1 at Māhia, New Zealand at 9:00 p.m., carrying two TROPICS CubeSats for NASA. A series of milestones will occur within several minutes after launch. The rocket will reach MaxQ, which is the speed at which the vehicle reaches its maximum dynamic pressure. Electron’s first stage …
TROPICS will launch aboard Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket, named Rocket Like A Hurricane, from Launch Complex 1 at Māhia, New Zealand. The Electron is an expendable, vertically launched, two-stage rocket that uses liquid oxygen and kerosene as propellants. Propellant loading has already begun for today’s launch and the rocket should launch in about five minutes. …
The team has just called out Go for Launch, and the Electron rocket should blast off in about 10 minutes.
Each TROPICS satellite is identical – a 3U CubeSat about the size of a loaf of bread that weighs about 12 pounds. The TROPICS CubeSat payload is a spinning microwave radiometer with highly integrated, compact microwave receiver electronics. TROPICS satellites measure microwave frequencies ranging from about 90 to 205 gigahertz, which can monitor the atmospheric …
A pair of NASA’s TROPICS CubeSats are scheduled to launch today on a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from New Zealand. A two-hour window opens at 9 p.m. EDT. Here’s a look at some of today’s upcoming milestones. All times are approximate: T-2:00 Launch autosequence begins T-00:02 Rutherford engines ignite T-00 Liftoff L-1:00 Vehicle supersonic L-1:11 …
Live coverage has begun for the first of two launches of NASA’s TROPICS mission. Rocket Lab is targeting 9 p.m. EDT (1 p.m. Monday, May 8, New Zealand Standard Time) for the launch of Rocket Like A Hurricane, the company’s Electron rocket that will send a pair of CubeSats to low Earth-Orbit. Watch the broadcast …
Weather officials with Rocket Lab predict a 70% percent chance of favorable weather for today’s launch of NASA’s TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) mission. The primary weather concern for today’s launch is a low probability of violation (POV) for cumulus/disturbed weather and low-moderate POV for ground …
It’s launch day for NASA’s TROPICS (Time-Resolved Observations of Precipitation structure and storm Intensity with a Constellation of Smallsats) mission! A pair of small satellites wait atop a Rocket Lab Electron rocket for liftoff from Launch Complex 1 in Māhia, New Zealand. This launch, named Rocket Like A Hurricane, is the first of two planned …
The SpaceX Dragon, with Expedition 69 crew members Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg of NASA, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev aboard, has successfully docked to the forward port of the Harmony module of the International Space Station at 8:01 a.m. EDT. This was the 27th spacecraft relocation in space station history. …
The SpaceX Dragon, with Expedition 69 crew members Steve Bowen and Woody Hoburg of NASA, UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev aboard, has undocked from the Harmony module on the space-facing side of the complex, and is on its way to redock to the forward port of the module. Redocking to the …
