L minus 3 hours...

I got to bed around 9 pm last night and experienced the usual getting-up-early jitters, resulting in two wakeups. Having someone yammer over the radio net after midnight didn't help.

I've been up for half an hour.

One of the workaholics around here came down with something (food poisoning, probably) a few days ago but then went right back to full throttle after one whole day of rest. Bad idea. He is being medevaced to Finland later today. A shame.

I must be down in the lobby at 5 am. There's about a quarter megaton of high explosive sitting about 4 km away. There'll be 3 of us at the Polyot (me, Maya, and the Spacecraft Integration Manager). We'll get there 2 hours in advance.

Gee, you think I have something on my mind?

Cheers...

Worldsat-2 is in orbit!

The day started early, at 4 am.

I could have slept until a little later, but between the adrenaline and receiving bad information, I was ready for the 5:30 am departure at 5 am. Our team got to our work location in good order and I went upstairs to set up with the Teleport Luch people.

I managed to get my hands on a camera that takes faux video, and managed to get a fairly interesting angle on the launch from my "studio" in the Polyot hotel, as shown in the following 30-second clip. (Click on the image. File info: .wmv format, ~650 KB).



I am still at the communications center with the client, awaiting receipt of confirming data, and will remain here for a few more hours.

The satellite has separated successfully, is where it is supposed to be, and everyone on the launch team is very happy.

Cheers...

Winding down...

The SIM and I returned from Teleport Luch at around 8 pm. By that time, I'd established that the fellow in charge of all communications issues (and the chief guy at Luch, a fellow by the name of Konstantin) is a fellow radio amateur. We exchanged some thoughts on the subject and took leave of each other with the traditional farewell: 73!

The French have broken out the Good Stuff™, and the minibar is a welter of various bottles and glasses. I am in the computer office right now, and I can hear singing through several concrete block walls. I don't think I'll go back to join in the fun, as I am thoroughly tired after a day of mostly stressful waiting.

The other members of the team got a jump on the cleanup-and-packout work. If what I heard on the radio network is correct, the vault next to the launch pad has been emptied of equipment and containers have been staged at the полтинник in preparation for filling.

I think I'll go upstairs and get some rest.

Cheers...