Andrew Yee[_1_]
April 25th 08, 05:50 PM
ESA News
http://www.esa.int
24 April 2008
GIOVE-B on the launch pad
The launcher that will carry GIOVE-B into orbit has been moved from the
final assembly building to the launch pad in preparation for liftoff on
Sunday morning.
Shortly after sunrise this Tuesday morning in Baikonur, a Soyuz launcher
with the GIOVE-B satellite in its fairing was carried onto its launch pad.
Indeed, a small train was formed to cross the kilometre between the final
assembly building and the launch zone: a locomotive pulling the rocket
followed by the wagons needed to provide energy and air conditioning to the
spacecraft.
A more than classic image: these operations have been performed this way for
over 50 years, since the launch of Sputnik, the first satellite sent into
orbit, and of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.
A traditional vision but still very moving, illustrating the activity on
this historical 'cosmodrome' which, after the race for space during the cold
war, has been progressively opening itself up and is now able to be used for
a programme such as Galileo -- with this second launch by Soyuz following on
from GIOVE-A on 28 December 2005.
The Soyuz operations are well known, since there have been close to 1800
launches. This does not prevent engineers and technicians, from Europe but
also from the launch facility, from rushing to make pictures in front of
'their' rocket. Some even have tears in their eyes while watching the train
arriving at the pad and the rocket being raised to the vertical, ready to
race into the cosmos.
The Soyuz machine worked like a Swiss clock, and in two hours the train
could return to the assembly building, leaving Soyuz on its pad. The
launcher is surrounded by its servicing tower, whose petals will now re-open
half an hour before the lift off at 04:16 Sunday morning in Baikonur --
sixteen minutes after midnight for Europe [2216 UTC April 26].
At the launch zone it is now time for the final preparations, in particular
the holding of a general rehearsal on Thursday. Fueling of the launcher will
be carried out on Saturday -- a task that will be authorised less than five
hours before lift off.
Thus, a decisive step is coming for this second Galileo satellite, GIOVE-B.
Once in orbit, it will be the most advanced navigation satellite. First, it
has to get into space, and even if operations are well controlled here,
where the quest for the stars started, a launch is never routine. Even the
more experienced engineers cross their fingers while looking at Soyuz
standing against the Kazakh sky. At its top, GIOVE-B, fully ready for its
mission: to demonstrate the correctness of the technological choices made by
ESA for the Galileo system.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM8WRYZDFF_index_1.html ]
http://www.esa.int
24 April 2008
GIOVE-B on the launch pad
The launcher that will carry GIOVE-B into orbit has been moved from the
final assembly building to the launch pad in preparation for liftoff on
Sunday morning.
Shortly after sunrise this Tuesday morning in Baikonur, a Soyuz launcher
with the GIOVE-B satellite in its fairing was carried onto its launch pad.
Indeed, a small train was formed to cross the kilometre between the final
assembly building and the launch zone: a locomotive pulling the rocket
followed by the wagons needed to provide energy and air conditioning to the
spacecraft.
A more than classic image: these operations have been performed this way for
over 50 years, since the launch of Sputnik, the first satellite sent into
orbit, and of Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.
A traditional vision but still very moving, illustrating the activity on
this historical 'cosmodrome' which, after the race for space during the cold
war, has been progressively opening itself up and is now able to be used for
a programme such as Galileo -- with this second launch by Soyuz following on
from GIOVE-A on 28 December 2005.
The Soyuz operations are well known, since there have been close to 1800
launches. This does not prevent engineers and technicians, from Europe but
also from the launch facility, from rushing to make pictures in front of
'their' rocket. Some even have tears in their eyes while watching the train
arriving at the pad and the rocket being raised to the vertical, ready to
race into the cosmos.
The Soyuz machine worked like a Swiss clock, and in two hours the train
could return to the assembly building, leaving Soyuz on its pad. The
launcher is surrounded by its servicing tower, whose petals will now re-open
half an hour before the lift off at 04:16 Sunday morning in Baikonur --
sixteen minutes after midnight for Europe [2216 UTC April 26].
At the launch zone it is now time for the final preparations, in particular
the holding of a general rehearsal on Thursday. Fueling of the launcher will
be carried out on Saturday -- a task that will be authorised less than five
hours before lift off.
Thus, a decisive step is coming for this second Galileo satellite, GIOVE-B.
Once in orbit, it will be the most advanced navigation satellite. First, it
has to get into space, and even if operations are well controlled here,
where the quest for the stars started, a launch is never routine. Even the
more experienced engineers cross their fingers while looking at Soyuz
standing against the Kazakh sky. At its top, GIOVE-B, fully ready for its
mission: to demonstrate the correctness of the technological choices made by
ESA for the Galileo system.
[NOTE: Images and weblinks supporting this release are available at
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM8WRYZDFF_index_1.html ]