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Another prop load eve...
Dec. 4th, 2008 08:17 pmThree propellant loading operations occur in the course of a campaign.
The first involves loading propellant and anything else that's required onto the satellite payload itself. It's what will allow the satellite to achieve its final position in the sky above the earth, with enough left over for an occasional nudge over the craft's operating lifetime.
The second propellant loading operation starts tomorrow, with the rollout of the completely assembled rocket to a fueling station not far from the полтинник. There, propellant teams from the Space Rocket Forces will spend two days loading the upper stage with oxidizer and fuel. The upper stage is a fairly complex device whose engines are designed to be turned on and off several times (unlike the engines of the launch vehicle stages, which are designed to start up just once).
At the conclusion of the operation on Saturday, a government commission will be convened to give a "go" to transport the integrated launch vehicle to the pad on Sunday morning. Ten hours or so before the scheduled liftoff, a second commission will consider all applicable factors, with the intent of giving a "go" to load the launch vehicle with more than 600 metric tons of propellant, after which it's show time.
Today was a pretty quiet day, except for a spate of into-Russian translations in the afternoon that eventually were taken care of.
Cheers...
The first involves loading propellant and anything else that's required onto the satellite payload itself. It's what will allow the satellite to achieve its final position in the sky above the earth, with enough left over for an occasional nudge over the craft's operating lifetime.
The second propellant loading operation starts tomorrow, with the rollout of the completely assembled rocket to a fueling station not far from the полтинник. There, propellant teams from the Space Rocket Forces will spend two days loading the upper stage with oxidizer and fuel. The upper stage is a fairly complex device whose engines are designed to be turned on and off several times (unlike the engines of the launch vehicle stages, which are designed to start up just once).
At the conclusion of the operation on Saturday, a government commission will be convened to give a "go" to transport the integrated launch vehicle to the pad on Sunday morning. Ten hours or so before the scheduled liftoff, a second commission will consider all applicable factors, with the intent of giving a "go" to load the launch vehicle with more than 600 metric tons of propellant, after which it's show time.
Today was a pretty quiet day, except for a spate of into-Russian translations in the afternoon that eventually were taken care of.
Cheers...
