At the invitation of the Honorable Ron S. Wolff, District 2 representative to the Accomack County Board of Supervisors Dr. John H. Campbell, Director of Wallops Flight Facility and Director of Suborbital and Special Orbital Projects delivered a briefing to approximately fifty citizens regarding the scheduled December 11, 2006 launch of a Minotaur Rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility. The briefing began at 7 p.m. in the NASA- Wallops Visitor Center and concluded at approximately 8 p.m.
An overview of the activities of Wallops Flight Facility is available at:
About Wallops Flight Facility
Some History of Launches from Wallops
The Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) began launching rockets in 1945. During the succeeding sixty-one years the WFF has launched more than 16,000 rockets. Of these missions, thirty-one launches have been of orbital spacecraft – 22 from launch pads and 9 Pegasus Rockets launched from fixed wing aircraft. The balance of the launches has lifted suborbital craft, mainly atmospheric sounding rockets for the purposes of conducting various scientific experiments and gathering data. During these sixty-one years of launch experience with over 16,000 missions, there has never been an incident of personal injury to the public or an occurrence of damage to private property.
The Missions
The primary mission of the Minotaur Rocket on December 11 is to lift a U. S. Air Force satellite into orbit. The TacSat-2 Micro Satellite is part of a testing program that seeks to demonstrate the objectives of the Joint Warfighting Space Initiative. The program has three objectives:
1. Rapid Design, Build, Test with a launch-ready spacecraft available within fifteen months of authority to proceed.
2. Responsive Launch, and Checkout Operations to include launch within one week of a call-up from a stored state, perform on orbit checkout within one day, conduct lean operations and down link data directly into a military theater of operations.
3. Militarily Significant Capability to include obtaining images with tactically significant resolution provided directly to the military theater of operations.
Additional information about the TacSat-2 Micro Satellite may be found at these links:
Space Vehicles Directorate and Sharing Earth Resources Observations
The secondary mission of the Minotaur Rocket to be launched on December 11 is to lift the twenty-two pound GeneSat-1 Satellite into orbit. This satellite has been developed through a partnership of NASA Ames Research Center, universities and industry. The satellite is a miniaturized spaceflight system that provides life support and nutrient delivery and performs assays for genetic changes in Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria while in the environmental conditions of spaceflight. The goal of the research is to build upon the understanding of the effects of long term space travel on humans. The project makes use of two strains of E. coli that are harmless to humans. Both strains of the E. coli bacteria used in the experiment are derived from E. coli K-12 isolate that has been used safely for more than forty years in research labs. The K-12 isolate and all the strains derived from it lack the ability to make certain proteins that are necessary for its survival in the large intestine of humans. Research has further shown that K-12 cells survive poorly if released into ambient earth environment. K-12 cells are routinely part of science kits designed for hands-on use by high school and middle school students. The GeneSat-1 satellite will use approximately ten drops of E. coli K-12 placed in ten separate containers.
Additional information on GeneSat-1 may be found at these links
Small Satellite Tackles Big Biology Questions and Engineering Students Assist in Design of Satellite
The primary mission TacSat-2 Micro Satellite will eject away from the launch vehicle once on orbit. Approximately ten minutes later the GeneSat-1 Satellite will leave the launch vehicle and go on station in orbit.
The Rocket
The Minotaur 1 is a four stage rocket designed as a low-cost, reliable launch vehicle for lifting government-sponsored payloads into orbit or to suborbital altitudes. The rocket stands approximately 62.5 feet tall. At its widest dimension it is approximately 5.5 ft in diameter. The fairing which encloses the satellites is approximately 4 ft in diameter.
The first two stages of the rocket are residual Minuteman II rockets (M55A1 and SR19). More than 450 Minuteman rockets have been successfully deployed. The two upper stages are Pegasus Rockets (Orion 50XL and Orion 38) designed by Orbital Sciences Corporation. All four rocket motors use solid fuel.
The Minotaur 1 has been successful launched on five missions originating at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Twenty small satellites have been placed into orbit by the Minotaur.
The third and fourth stages of the Minotaur 1 rocket are on location at Wallops Flight Facility. The satellite is expected to arrive within two weeks. The final two stages of the rocket will arrive after the satellite has arrived. Part of the work of the Wallops Flight Facility is to assemble all these components into a unified launch system.
The Minotaur 1 rocket is much larger than the suborbital atmospheric rockets most frequently launched at the Wallops Flight Facility. The weight of the Minotaur rocket is seventy thousand pounds. The primary mission satellite weighs approximately eight hundred fifty pounds. An atmospheric sounding rocket typically weighs about five thousand pounds and carries a payload of several hundred pounds. Sounding rockets may be as tall as sixty feet and have a diameter of thirty-five inches. However the weight of fuel for a suborbital fight is much less than that of an orbital flight.
Additional information about the Minotaur Rocket may be found at this link:
Minotaur Rocket
The Launch
The launch window begins on December 11 and closes on December 20. On the day of launch the window narrows to between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.
The first stage of the rocket burns for one minute. During that time the vehicle travels forty miles down range and to an elevation of 100,000 feet. The trajectory of the rocket is away from land, eastward over the Atlantic. From launch to orbit takes about ten minutes.
What to Expect on Launch Day
Accomack County and NASA are working together to provide traffic control on launch day. The most recent experience with the launch of an orbital spacecraft from the Wallops Flight Facility was in 1995 when the Conestoga rocket was fired. Between five and ten thousand people came to the Accomack County to view that launch.
NASA has no official viewing site for the launch. However, it suggests that the launch may be best viewed from Assateague Island. However, the southern portion of Assateague in the vicinity of Toms Cove and the Hook will be closed to pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Residents can anticipate that the launch will generate loud, low rumbling sounds that produce vibrations of windows and doors much like a thunder storm. The sound is anticipated to be much like that of a thunderstorm.
NASA has designated a flight safety performance envelop for the launch. If the rocket strays out of this envelop the Range Safety Officer will order its destruction. The safety zone will be cleared of boat and aircraft traffic during the launch window. No houses lie within the safety zone. A circular hazard area around the launch pad with a radius of 8.500 ft has been designated. This area would be sufficient to contain the smoke if the rocket failed upon launch. The significant concern of such a failure is that 25% of the smoke from the resulting fire would contain hydrogen chloride. At the perimeter of the 8.500 ft hazard zone the concentration of hydrogen chloride released during a fire would be l part per million. By comparison federal workplace standards permit concentrations of hydrogen chloride to reach 10 parts per million.
Future Launches
April 2007 the Near Field Infra Read (NFIRE) spacecraft will launch aboard a Minotaur 1 rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility.
October 2007 TacSat-3 will launch aboard a Minotaur 1 rocket from the Wallops Flight Facility.
Discussion is underway about launching Minotaur 5 rockets from the Wallops Flight Facility with spacecraft designed to reach the moon. The Minotaur 5 rocket is less than twice the size of the Minotaur 1 rocket. Activity on this project remains several years in the future.
Additional information on the Minotaur 5 and Minotaur 1 can be found at this link:
Minotaur 5 and Minotaur 1
Wallops Flight Facility is also a favorable location for launching automated spacecraft intended to reach the International Space Station.
How to Keep Track of the Launch
Before the launch
Launch status line 757-824-2050
www.wff.nasa.gov
Day of Launch Countdown Status:
NASA Radio 760 AM limited range of five to ten miles from Visitors Center
Local Radio: WESR, WVES, WCTG.
Webcast of Launches May be Available at this link:
Launch Webcast
Notice to Mariners about the status of the launch range may be found at:
Notice to Mariners - Range Status
