Sea Launch update

In article ,
Brian Thorn wrote:
If nothing else, the Russians know how to make tough launchpads. :-)

The Norweigians made this one.

Kinda. :-) The platform is Norwegian, but the actual launch rig on top
of it is either Russian or Ukrainian.
--
spsystems.net is temporarily off the air; | Henry Spencer
mail to henry at zoo.utoronto.ca instead. |

Brian Thorn wrote:
The Norweigians made this one.



But it would be to Russian designs.

Pat

Brian Thorn wrote in
:

On Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:10:29 -0600, Pat Flannery
wrote:

Consider how many Semyorkas blew up on those Baikonur pads over the past
fifty years.
If nothing else, the Russians know how to make tough launchpads. :-)

The Norweigians made this one.

No, I believe the launcpad construction is russian, specifically Vyborg
Shipyard.

Source:
http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/...e_980526b.html

H Tavaila

On Feb 2, 4:05 pm, "Ed Kyle" wrote:
On Feb 2, 1:10 am, Pat Flannery wrote:

Damon Hill wrote:

Pretty tough platform if all it needs is some new metal
and a paint job, after that inferno. Waiting to see pictures
of the actual damage. Obviously it could have been worse,
if the Zenit had fallen inboard, but still...

Some call it an explosion, but I think deflagration
would be the more accurate term.

Consider how many Semyorkas blew up on those Baikonur pads over the past
fifty years.
If nothing else, the Russians know how to make tough launchpads. :-)

Pat

Anatoly Zak is reporting at "http://www.russianspaceweb.com/" that
both the exhaust deflector and the umbilical boom were knocked off
the platform and sunk by the accident. That boom and the
presumably damaged/lost autocoupler equipment at the base of the
launcher are substantial chunks of hardware that will take a bit of
money and time to fix.

I would be surprised to see Sea Launch return to action in 2007.
When NASA's AC-5 (a substantially smaller Atlas Centaur rocket)
failed in this manner on Cape Canaveral's Pad 36A in 1965, nearly
15 months passed before the pad was able to host another launch.

- Ed Kyle

Today the rumor about the umbilical boom was squashed when
someone posted post-failure Odyssey images at
"http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/". The boom is
still there, though looking kind of toasty, and possibly showing
signs that it did not completely uncouple from the the vehicle
before the explosion - though that may simply have that it
did not have time to complete the uncoupling process. The
hanger doors were unhinged and lying askew, but still otherwise
intact. The flame deflector was most certainly gone.

There was also a report that Odyssey is headed back to
Long Beach. Someone rent a helicopter!

- Ed Kyle

Ed Kyle wrote:

Today the rumor about the umbilical boom was squashed when
someone posted post-failure Odyssey images at
"http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/".


Not being up on Cyrillic, where exactly are the photos linked to on that
page?

Pat

Pat Flannery wrote in
:



Ed Kyle wrote:

Today the rumor about the umbilical boom was squashed when
someone posted post-failure Odyssey images at
"http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/".


Not being up on Cyrillic, where exactly are the photos
linked to on that page?

They seem to start he

http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/p...pic.php?t=5037
&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=510

Some also found on Nasaspaceflight:

http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/for...iew.asp?tid=51
03&start=481

--Damon

On Feb 3, 5:13 pm, Pat Flannery wrote:
Ed Kylewrote:

Today the rumor about the umbilical boom was squashed when
someone posted post-failure Odyssey images at
"http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/".

Not being up on Cyrillic, where exactly are the photos linked to on that
page?

Pat

I've been using babelfish, which allows you to navigate a translated
version of the site.

"http://babelfish.altavista.com/"

Then type in the site:

"http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/"

The Sea Launch discussion is in the "Means of Removal and Other
Technical Questions" area.

It's really interesting to see the discussion on this Russian site.
They have trolls too, but they seem more polite somehow.

- Ed Kyle

"Ed Kyle" wrote in
oups.com:


Today the rumor about the umbilical boom was squashed when
someone posted post-failure Odyssey images at
"http://www.novosti-kosmonavtiki.ru/phpBB2/". The boom is
still there, though looking kind of toasty, and possibly
showing signs that it did not completely uncouple from the
the vehicle before the explosion - though that may simply
have that it did not have time to complete the uncoupling
process. The hanger doors were unhinged and lying askew,
but still otherwise intact. The flame deflector was most
certainly gone.

Given the LOX-enhanced inferno that enveloped the equipment,
it's astonishingly intact. Far from being an explosion,
this was a very benign failure given the propellants involved.
They should be back in service rather quickly, if the
root failure is found and corrected.

--Damon

See this link:

http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/...05sailing.html

Pictures have been posted showing the platform & support ship heading
home.

Carl

On 6 Feb, 15:58, "surfduke" wrote:
See this link:

http://spaceflightnow.com/sealaunch/...05sailing.html

Pictures have been posted showing the platform & support ship heading
home.

Carl

Thanks for the link Carl.

Jamie