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Four down, one to go...
Aug. 5th, 2006 11:23 amPlus separation.
The launch went off last night right on time, and everything so far is proceeding well. I left the communications center at the Polyot shortly after the start of the first Breeze-M upper stage burn, before the first telemetry was received. As of this morning, the upper stage has executed four of the scheduled five burns, and upon completion of the fifth and final burn, which will take the satellite from its transfer orbit and place it in a geosynchronous orbit, all that will remain to complete the job we came to do will be for the satellite to separate from the upper stage.
Right now, I've got to see about getting a ticket from Houston to Albuquerque while I keep track of the time. I've got a light load of laundry going downstairs and need to get ready to go into work. It turns out the "equipment loading" I am to support is all local (not at the airport, which is a relief, because it's hot outside), involving going out to the pad to get equipment out of the vault. The rest of my schedule remains intact.
There is a rumor that the French are arranging for a trip into town for one last fling at the Luna before we all leave tomorrow. This is scheduled to occur after (or pehaps instead of) tonight's celebratory farewell bash, which seems a bit extreme, but then again, everyone has been working really hard the past 10 days or so, so maybe there's a case to be made for playing hard, too.
I left the Polyot shortly after doing my thing with the narration, and visited the Proton Club on the way back to the Fili. The VIPs flown in for the launch were in the process of celebrating the launch, and I managed to grab a bite to eat.
The VIPs are a mixed group, consisting of... well... folks that management felt ought to come to Kazakhstan just to see the launch and then go home. I stood at the periphery of one small group who were wondering about how our team gets along for such a long time out here, and whether we live in town or not, and when I ventured to provide an answer, one of them - a French telecom executive - very nearly planted himself between me and the others, with his back to me, very clearly communicating the message, "You are not welcome to participate in our conversation." I took no mortal offense, but the move was a bit surprising for its directness.
Anyway, there's things to do, and daylight is burning.
Cheers...
The launch went off last night right on time, and everything so far is proceeding well. I left the communications center at the Polyot shortly after the start of the first Breeze-M upper stage burn, before the first telemetry was received. As of this morning, the upper stage has executed four of the scheduled five burns, and upon completion of the fifth and final burn, which will take the satellite from its transfer orbit and place it in a geosynchronous orbit, all that will remain to complete the job we came to do will be for the satellite to separate from the upper stage.
Right now, I've got to see about getting a ticket from Houston to Albuquerque while I keep track of the time. I've got a light load of laundry going downstairs and need to get ready to go into work. It turns out the "equipment loading" I am to support is all local (not at the airport, which is a relief, because it's hot outside), involving going out to the pad to get equipment out of the vault. The rest of my schedule remains intact.
There is a rumor that the French are arranging for a trip into town for one last fling at the Luna before we all leave tomorrow. This is scheduled to occur after (or pehaps instead of) tonight's celebratory farewell bash, which seems a bit extreme, but then again, everyone has been working really hard the past 10 days or so, so maybe there's a case to be made for playing hard, too.
I left the Polyot shortly after doing my thing with the narration, and visited the Proton Club on the way back to the Fili. The VIPs flown in for the launch were in the process of celebrating the launch, and I managed to grab a bite to eat.
The VIPs are a mixed group, consisting of... well... folks that management felt ought to come to Kazakhstan just to see the launch and then go home. I stood at the periphery of one small group who were wondering about how our team gets along for such a long time out here, and whether we live in town or not, and when I ventured to provide an answer, one of them - a French telecom executive - very nearly planted himself between me and the others, with his back to me, very clearly communicating the message, "You are not welcome to participate in our conversation." I took no mortal offense, but the move was a bit surprising for its directness.
Anyway, there's things to do, and daylight is burning.
Cheers...
