Names | Simulated Cygnus Payload [1] |
---|---|
Mission type | Test flight |
Operator | Orbital Sciences Corporation |
COSPAR ID | 2013-016D |
SATCAT no. | 39145 |
Website | https://news.northropgrumman.com/ |
Mission duration | 19 days |
Spacecraft properties | |
Spacecraft | Cygnus mass simulator |
Manufacturer | Orbital Sciences Corporation |
Launch mass | 3,800 kg (8,400 lb) |
Dimensions | 5.061 m × 2.896 m (16.60 ft × 9.50 ft) |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 21 April 2013, 21:00:00 UTC [2] [3] |
Rocket | Antares 110 [4] |
Launch site | Wallops Pad 0A |
Contractor | Orbital Sciences Corporation |
End of mission | |
Disposal | Deorbited |
Decay date | 10 May 2013 |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric orbit [5] |
Regime | Low Earth orbit |
Perigee altitude | 240 km (150 mi) |
Apogee altitude | 260 km (160 mi) |
Inclination | 51.6° |
Orbital Sciences insignia |
Antares A-ONE mission was the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation' Antares launch vehicle including the ascent to space and accurate delivery of a simulated payload, the Cygnus Mass Simulator (CMS), which was launched 21 April 2013. [5] It was launched from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS), Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia. [5] The simulated payload simulates the mass of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft. [5] This dummy payload was sent into an orbit of 240 km × 260 km (150 mi × 160 mi) with an orbital inclination of 51.6°, the same launch profile it will use for Orbital's upcoming cargo supply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA. [5]
This launch along with several other activities leading up to it, are paid milestones under NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. [6]
The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator. It had a height of 5.061 m (16.60 ft), a diameter of 2.896 m (9 ft 6.0 in) and a mass of 3,800 kg (8,400 lb). [7] It was equipped with 22 accelerometers, 2 microphones, 12 digital thermometers, 24 thermocouples and 12 strain gages. [7]
Four Spaceflight Industries Inc. CubeSat nanosatellites were deployed from the dummy payload. [8]
The secondary payloads were four CubeSats that were deployed from the CMS. [7] Three of them were PhoneSats, 1U CubeSats built by NASA's Ames Research Center. [7] These were named Alexander, Graham and Bell, after the Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. [7] The purpose of these three satellites was to demonstrate the use of smartphones as avionics in CubeSats. [7] They each had a mass of 1,124 kg (2,478 lb) and were powered by lithium batteries. [7] The fourth nanosat was a 3U CubeSat, called Dove-1, built by Cosmogia Inc. It carried a "technology development Earth imagery experiment" using the Earth's magnetic field for attitude control. [7] [9]
Attempt | Planned | Result | Turnaround | Reason | Decision point | Weather go (%) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 17 Apr 2013, 5:00:00 pm | scrubbed | — | technical | 17 Apr 2013, 4:44 pm (T-12:00 hold) | 60% [10] | Premature disconnect of upper stage umbilical cable during T-12:00 hold [11] |
2 | 20 Apr 2013, 6:10:00 pm | scrubbed | 3 days, 1 hour, 10 minutes | weather | 20 Apr 2013, 4:30 pm | 90% | [12] |
3 | 21 Apr 2013, 5:00:00 pm | success | 0 days, 22 hours, 50 minutes | 80% | First flight of Antares [13] |