A daily account of life onboard the Sea Launch Assembly and Command Ship (ACS) enroute to our equatorial launch site at 154 degrees west and back home.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Transit Day 9 – Final Preps for Launch Site Arrival
Following yesterday’s activities the team was back to work
making final plans for arrival to the launch site early Friday morning. All segments spent the day finalizing their documentation,
completing all necessary preparation work required to be done during transit and
one of the most challenging tasks working the crew transfer lists. During transit and prior to ballast down
operations there is a limit of 70 persons on the LP. Once the LP has ballasted down 19 meters, the
crew limit may be increased to 95 persons.
As with most of Sea Launch’s operations logistics plays a key role in accommodating
every segments work schedules. Galia
Kaplan, ELUS Transportation Coordination Officer (TCO), is responsible for
finalizing the list and managing the logistics of the crew transfer. Galia
works closely with Jason McLaughlin the Payload Integration Manager (PIM), to
ensure that our customer needs are addressed. This is the one true variables between
missions. Each spacecraft’s operations
schedule is slightly different and requires us to effectively manage the
logistics of crew transfer in order to accommodate the necessary work flows.
Galia also works closely with the Rocket Segment management from RSC Energia; Deputy
Mission Director (DMD), Igor Bogachev, Rocket Segment Operations Manager (RSOM),
Alexy Khvatov, and Operations Team Coordinator, Maxim Gorshkov, as well as the
marine crew from both vessels including the ACS Safety officer, Vadym
Prokhorenko and LP Safety officer, Cleaton Duguid. Once the crew transfer lists are completed we
know we are ready for launch site operations as this is typically the final
piece of documentation that is completed.
Maxim Gorshkov confirmed at the 19:00 MD meeting that all crew transfer
lists have been coordinated and agreed too… So we are ready for launch site
arrival!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Transit Day 8 – Positively Rememberable Experiences
Most successful companies have an underlying "Mission Statement"
that guides their actions on a daily basis.
ELUS is no different as our Mission is:
The Catering Team Delivering a Reliable, Repeatable & Positively Rememberable Experience
The ACS Catering Team delivers a positively Rememberable dining experience... Do you agree? Lets us know by sharing a comment below...Thank You!
“To deliver a Reliable, Repeatable and Positively
Rememberable launch service, one customer at a time utilizing a lean,
efficient, sustainable, and cost effective organization that maximizes
profitability for our company” K. D. Pysher
Today’s focus is on ”Positively Rememberable.” Okay I know there is a debate out there as to
whether “Rememberable” is an actual word or not but if I just used “memorable”
then I would not have the 3-“R’s” for a successful launch service company…
Reliable, Repeatable and positively Rememberable. Either way the intent is for every person
that takes this voyage to the launch site to return home with only positive
memories of their experience. That
includes customers, contractors, government personel, and employees or more
simply put…Everyone.
The ELUS Chief Systems Engineer representative for this
mission, John Riedman, shares the following positively Rememberable experience:
Birthday on the boat.
After the long day yesterday, today was pretty quiet. This
may have been foreshadowed by the spectacular rainbow last night. I mean there were the typical 7:30 AM to 7:30
PM meetings, but mostly we were just reviewing the results of the rehearsal,
making some small tweaks to documentation, and getting ready for launch site
operations (still 2 days away.)
But today is my birthday.
Aww now don’t feel sorry for me.
There are 223 people on this ship.
It is likely that someone is
having a birthday. My birthday was
announced at the very first meeting of the day.
Through-out the day, I was greeted by yells of “Happy Birthday” as well
as comments about my green pants. To
make a long story short – Green means Go.
In the in the launch business Go is good. I have a red uniform but no one wants to see
me wear that. J
Some may think that celebrating a birthday far from family
and friends is difficult. My family has
been very understanding of the time that launches take me away from them. I received gifts and cards before I left. I know they love me where-ever I am. My son’s card didn’t get finished in time – he
wants my wife to send it by mail boat.
An “E-“mail boat will have to do.
Daddy's little girl...
John & the green pants waiting for the mail boat to arrive
With e-mail, Facebook, and Google+; I received birthday
wishes from my friends and family in Colorado, Hawaii, Texas, Oregon, … I feel very lucky to have such good
communications out here that I can stay in touch so easily, thanks Semco. I raised an Italian beer and toasted all my
friends and family this evening.
Though I’ve previously been misunderstood and so woefully
misquoted in the past (see Boeing Employee Times June 2009 re: “smartest guy in
the room”);I definitely feel like one of the luckiest people. I like to take this opportunity to say that I
am humbled by the support of my teammates.
Let me give you an example: Suzanne Romero, the Executive Assistant to
the Chief Operating Officer, colluded with Elvie Lago on the ACS here to stash
some Haagen-Daz ice cream and deliver it to me today. A well appreciated gift in the middle of the
tropics. I am lucky to be able to
celebrate my birthday with teammates like these. With 222 teammates – I wonder whose birthday
it is tomorrow?
-John
John has been with the Sea Launch program nearly from the
beginning and is a valuable asset for me personally and the company as a whole…
John is correct that in the launch business “Green” is good and represents “Go”. But in my opinion, it would be “Good” if the fluorescent
green pants that he refers to above would just “Go” if you know what I mean… Thanks John for sharing your positively
rememberable experience.
Most people who work in the satellite and launch service business
get extreme reward just from their work.
I think a lot of that comes from the fact that you get to take an idea,
put it to paper, turn the paper into hardware and physically deliver it into
space. You get to experience the full
lifecycle of the project over a short timeframe and reap in the reward for your
endeavors by witnessing a successful
launch. The Eutelsat mission was approximately 12 months of dedicated work between
ELUS, Eutelsat, Astrium, Sea Launch and many of our contractors. Tonight we took time to recognize those folks
that have worked closely together to make this mission happen by inviting them
to experience a gourmet meal prepared by the ELUS catering team in the VIP
dining room. I will let the pictures
speak for themselves as to it being a positively Rememberable Experience…
The Table
The Team
The Menu
The Chef - Geir Haugen
The Soup
The Prep Line - Howell Bagabaldo & Michael Cabal
The Sweet Green Asparagus
The 1st Cook - Peter Navarro
The Surf & Turf Main Course
The Baker - Celestino Buladaco Jr.
The Kitchens version of "Main Engine Ignition"
The Dessert
The ACS Iron Chefs: Ronwald Christian David, Howell Bagabaldo, Peter Navarro,
and Celestino Buladaco Jr.
The Catering Team - Bunny Oeseo, Ove Rosenberg, Ediezen Ortiz and Marcelo Montero
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Transit Day 7 – Rehearsal 3 Day
Wow that was a long day!
The day started off with the third and final launch rehearsal for the
Eutelsat mission. This rehearsal is as
close as it gets to the actual launch day without actually filling the rocket
with propellants and igniting the engine.
All segments across the globe support this rehearsal including RSC
Energia’s Moscow Control Center (MCC) in Russia, SDO Yuzhnoye’s launch control
center in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, Eutelsat’s spacecraft operations center in France,
NASA’s Goddard and White Sands TDRSS network, U.S. Air Force Space Command, Boeing
Seattle Operations Center, Brewster Ground Station in Washington State, Sea
Launch Home Port in Long Beach, California, and of course the ACS and LP. This truly is the epitome of Global
Operations.
On console time was 0615 in the morning requiring most
people to be up at 0500 in order to get ready, eat breakfast and report to
their respective stations. The rehearsal
starts at L-6 hours and concludes with simulated spacecraft separation at 13:50
in the afternoon. An interesting fact is
that the ACS and LP do not change the clocks as we transit through two time
zones with the launch site located in the same time zone as Honolulu, Hawaii. But as the old saying goes you cannot fool “Mother
Nature” and likewise you cannot fool your “Body Clock” it knows that it is
really 3AM in the morning…!!! Now keep
in mind that our Russian colleagues in Moscow are 11 hours ahead of us so they
are on console at 1700 and finishing up at 0100 the following day. A significant amount of logistics goes into
planning the support for a global operation such as Sea Launch and nobody does
it better.
Today’s launch rehearsal went off without any issues. All segments and systems performed flawlessly
especially the marine crew who not only were participating in the rehearsal but
were also sailing the ships and had to make a small deviation for a cargo ship
that was crossing in front of us. Not
often that we see other vessels out here so when we do it creates a bit of
excitement.
Following the rehearsal, the launch team returned their
systems to the initial state and began reviewing the data that they captured
during the rehearsal to evaluate performance of their teams and systems. The final task for the day is the 1900
Mission Directors meeting where Dr. Valery Aliev and the launch managers meet
to discuss the day’s activities and launch rehearsal performance. All segments reported
satisfactory results and all planned rehearsal objectives were completed
without issues. The launch team
continues to fine tune the schedules for launch site operations and continuously
work together to ensure that upon arrival at the launch site all operations
will be conducted in an efficient and effective manner.
The ELUS Photo Optics team, Larry Trotter and Scott Crozier,
captured some great shots of the ACS and LP in motion yesterday as Evergreen
Helicopter pilot Ryan Lehman maneuvered them into the perfect position using
the Jet Ranger which is one of two helicopters on board the ACS.
Larry Trotter on the other end of the camera lens for a change...
Scott Crozier on his first mission is already proving to be a valuable asset...
Ryan Lehman one of Evergreens finest helicopter pilots
The sister ships in perfect formation...
The ACS sleek and noble...
The LP leaving a glowing wake behind her...
I am sure that many of you reading the daily posts may have questions and/or comments. Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question in the comments section below and we will do our best to respond to all... Thanks for reading...
Kirk
Monday, November 26, 2012
Transit Day 6 – Rendezvous Day
Today is a significant milestone in the voyage to the launch
site as the ACS rendezvoused with the Launch Platform last night at 23:40. Captain Lars navigated the ACS to alongside
the LP just off the starboard beam at 3.7 nautical miles. Now if you are anything like me I always get
confused between starboard and port so the LP is off of the right hand side of
the ACS as you look forward and Port is that sweet after dinner drink but that
is a different blog. The ACS and LP will
now transit together to the launch site with an expected arrival of 30 November
early morning.
The launch team goes into full gear on rendezvous day with
the SEMCO Communications team led by Steen Nielsen setting up the communications
links between the ACS and LP. There will
be more about the SEMCO team at a later date but these guys are top notch
performers and a key aspect to our success. With the communications links
established the Astrium spacecraft team was able to remotely perform health
checks and spacecraft battery charging from the ACS.
The rest of the launch crew spent the day preparing for the
third and final rehearsal planned for tomorrow morning. Making sure that all the documentation is in
order, systems are ready and the remote sites are prepared to support.
Launch Platform Comfortably Off the Starboard Beam
Launch Platform in the Morning Sun
Now that the ACS and LP are in close proximity it is time to
spin up the helicopter team (no pun intended) and start training flights. Evergreen Helicopters Inc. supplies us with
top notch helicopter pilots who know how to get the job done. Landing a helicopter on solid ground is hard
enough imagine if the ground is moving up and down and side to side…these guys
make it look easy. The helicopter pilots
led by Nick Clarno performed multiple training flights between the ACS and LP
to get reacquainted with the helo pads on both vessels and to train with the
marine crew that support helo operations.
It was a busy day for the pilots as they performed proficiency flights
and a photo optics flight to capture some aerial photos and videos of the
vessels in motion and were lucky enough to capture a pod of Dolphins playing
between the two vessels. A long day of
flying but all objectives were met without issue.
Helicopter Returning from the Launch Platform in the Background
Helicopter Landing Gently on the Launch Platform
Helicopter Coming in for a Landing on The ACS
Dolphin Pod courtesy of Photo Optics Specialists Larry Trotter & Scott Crozier
Dolphin Pod courtesy of Photo Optics Specialists Larry Trotter & Scott Crozier
Both vessels are now in the Intertropical Convergence Zone
(ITCZ) which is a band of clouds that circle the globe near the equator as the
tradewinds from the northern hemisphere meet those from the southern. It is also sometimes referred to as the “Doldrums”
because of its erratic weather patterns in that it is either extremely calm or
violent thunderstorms. Either way it presents
us with some interesting weather as you can see from the sunset photo below.
The Launch Platform about to be engulfed by the ITCZ
Transit Day 5 - Rest Day
Sunday is a rest day for the ELUS team. There are no planned operations or meetings
for the team today. The Astrium
spacecraft team on board the LP will power up the spacecraft and charge the
batteries and that is basically it for the day.
Most people will spend the day relaxing in their cabins, offices,
reading lounge, ACS bar and cinema. The ACS will
rendezvous with the LP around midnight today and operations will start back up
in the morning. Time to relax, see you tomorrow...
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Transit Day 4 – Meetings & Customer Welcome Dinner
For most, Saturday is the start of the weekend but for the
ELUS launch team at sea it is a work day packed full of meetings and
training. The day as always starts with
the Mission Directors 0830 status meeting to review the current system status
and planned work. All segments attend
the meeting and provide reports including a daily weather report from the
onboard weather specialist Mike Patnoe.
Mike is garnering a lot of attention as we are keeping a watchful eye on
the Launch Platform transit speed. The
Launch Platform (LP) speed is the driving factor for determining the date and
time for launch site arrival. And as one
can imagine the weather specifically
wind and waves play a critical role in the speed of the LP. The LP is a massive structure with ~200ft (60m)
above the waterline making for a large sail to catch winds from any
direction. Today is a good day with the
LP traveling at 10 knots and with compliments of Mr. Patnoe a nice tailwind of
~22 knots. The launch team will continue
to monitor the LP speed and weather closely over the next few days to nail down
the expected arrival time to the launch site.
There are an additional 8 meetings on the calendar for the remainder
of the day including training for those launch team members that will be transferring
between the ACS and LP once we are at the launch site. Crew transfers occur via two methods: Link
Bridge and Helicopter. Both of these
methods have manageable but inherent risks associated with them that require
training to mitigate those risks. Even
the most seasoned veterans of Sea Launch need to be reminded of the safety
procedures so this is required training for every mission. Galia Kaplan, Transportation
Coordinator & Security, performs the trainings along with the ACS Safety
officer. With our international launch
team this means that the training is conducted in Russian and English with the
help of one of our superb onboard translators, Sasha Trushkin.
Another significant meeting was the integrated Rehearsal 2
debrief led by the Mission Director Dr. Valery Aliev. All segments including the customer
participated in the meeting where each of the simulated anomalies was discussed
individually. The MD reviews the
objective of the anomaly, the execution of the launch team in handling the
anomaly and any lessons learned that can be garnered from the team that will in
the event of an actual anomaly improve the response. This is a prime example of one of our closed
looped processes that captures lessons learned and incorporates them into the
operational documentation for the next time providing for a continuous learning
process. Overall the MD was pleased with
the performance of the launch team during Rehearsal 2 and there were a few
lessons learned that will be incorporated in time for Rehearsal 3 in a few
days.
From a social perspective today is the first VIP dinner to
welcome our customer Eutelsat and the
spacecraft manufacturer Astrium. This is
a small gathering of the leadership from all segments in the VIP dining room
located on the 3rd Bridge deck. It is another opportunity for our Chef to
present his skills in preparing a spectacular four course meal. Eighteen representatives from Eutelsat,
Astrium, ELUS, RSC Energia, Yuzhnoye, Yuzhmash, TsENKi, Boeing and the ACS
Captain, Lars Haheim were all present.
The Chief Catering Officer Ove Rosenberg presented the menu and wine
list to the attendees just prior to the first course being served. Overall the evening was a big success with a
very relaxed atmosphere and many tall tales of previous adventures on board the
Sea Launch Commander being told. For me
personally the hit of the evening was the dessert course, Baked Alaska,
awesome!
Invitation & Dinner Menu
VIP Dinner Table with Mission Director Dr. Valery Aliev at the Head
Lance Neal, Boeing Payload Ops Manager and Kirk Pysher, ELUS COO
The Main Course of Roast Duck Breast & Applesauce Muscadet filled Crepe
Final Course - Perfectly Styled Baked Alaska
Very Tasty!!!!
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Transit Day 3 – Rehearsal 2 Day
With the Thanksgiving holiday behind us the launch team
gets down to serious work. Today is the
second of three planned launch rehearsals in support of the Eutelsat 70B
mission. The launch team will assemble
in the Launch Control Center (LCC) and various other workstations on the ACS at
0730 for communication checks. As I described in my prior post, the launch
rehearsal process is a necessary part of managing the risks associated with the
complex task of “successfully” sending a projectile through the earth’s
atmosphere into space and “successfully” delivering our customers spacecraft
into its intended orbit. The launch
rehearsal process allows us to practice those items that we have control of
because once the main engine ignites and the clamps holding the one million
pound Zenit 3SL rocket down to the launch pad release we have no more control,
it is just between the environment and the machine from there on.
Rehearsal #2 is where a number of simulated anomalies are
introduced at various times throughout the 3+ hour rehearsal to test the skills
of the entire launch team on their ability to effectively and efficiently resolve
the problem and continue with the countdown.
No member of the launch team is exempt from the process including the
Mission Director (MD). Today’s rehearsal
included approximately 8 simulated anomalies that required multiple functions/teams to
resolve and work through. There are situations where an issue can be isolated
to one function or team but in most instances it requires an integrated team approach
to resolve. Teamwork along with open communication are
key to successfully completing any aspect of the launch process from prelaunch
planning through post launch reporting.
No one function/team can do it all.
Today the team performed flawlessly in dealing with the
complex anomalies presented during the rehearsal. There were no issues and the rehearsal
completed around 1130. The teams then
prepared for individual team rehearsal debrief meetings to be held in the
afternoon. An integrated team debrief
meeting will be held the following day.
From a social perspective, the teams are settled in and many
have their routines in place which include daily workouts in the gym and movies
in the cinema as well as social gatherings in the ACS bar . Yes there is a bar onboard however as you can
imagine there are strict guidelines relative to its operation. For instance the bar is never open the night
prior to a rehearsal or anytime once we are at the launch site. It is primarily open only during transit to
and from the launch site under the watchful eye of the Captain and Mission
Director so as to not interfere with required operations. More to come on these
later…
Transit Day 2 - Thanksgiving Day
This is a work day for the team albeit a light day given the
Holiday but still a work day. The team
continues to settle into their offices and digest the daily schedule of
events/meetings/operations etc. Each day
starts out with the 0830 Mission Director (MD) meeting to discuss the day’s
activities and any other significant business. Not everyone participates in the
morning MD meeting it is basically for the management team to report status and
receive direction on the planned days activities.
The remainder of the day is spent preparing for launch rehearsal #2 to be held the following day. The team prepares their launch documentation and reviews the rehearsal information sheet. For those segments that get to practice anomalies the sometimes borderline devious strategizing begins to challenge their respective teammates on their ability to effectively and efficiently work through problems. The Prime target for this devious behavior “newbies.” Some may liken this to an initiation process into a fraternal order but it is a necessary process to stress them to the maximum and test their skills under the watchful eye of a qualified and certified trainer. But at the same time we can have a little fun with them as well. The other prime target are those veterans that are not expecting to be challenged, typically not as fun to watch as the newbies as they tend to maneuver flawlessly through the simulated anomaly but every once in a while you can catch them off-guard. All in good fun but a very necessary part of ensuring we are prepared for any situation.
Now to the good stuff… Thanksgiving day feast! Kudos to our
Norwegian colleagues as they made every effort to recreate a traditional
Thanksgiving day feast for all onboard.
This is one of those experiences that bridges cultures as most of the
people onboard have not experienced a traditional Thanksgiving day feast let
alone prepared one. To be honest I was truly skeptical of what our Norwegian
chef was going to come up with while simultaneously anticipating the
traditional Turkey, stuffing, yes stuffing not dressing, cranberry sauce,
mashed potatoes, gravy and of course Pumpkin pie. As most of us have noticed after many meals
in the dining hall onboard the ACS our Norwegian friends enjoy food products in
tubes, yes tubes much like a tube of toothpaste except it may have some form of
processed fish coming out the end instead of a minty fresh sparkling tooth
whitening product. Given this insight
into Norwegian culture one could only imagine the possibilities of any one of
those expected traditional thanksgiving fare showing up on the table in the
form of a tube. Think about it for a
minute, with the exception of the turkey each of the other traditional sides
could practically fit into a tube.
Decorating the Dining Hall to get that fall feeling
Front of the line waiting for the Turkey to show up!
Friday, November 23, 2012
Transit Day 1 - ACS Departure
Departure day is always one of mixed emotions especially
when you are going to be gone over a big holiday. The excitement to get
underway for what I would argue is the sexiest launch service operation in the
world was overshadowed by the fact that it was 1 day prior to the feast of all
feasts in an American home, Thanksgiving! Nonetheless, 220+ Americans,
Russians, Ukrainians, Norwegians, Filipinos, Danes, and our French customer
proudly walked onboard the Command ship following the usual pier side speeches
and Mission Director led departure readiness poll and settled in for a voyage
to our equatorial launch site at 154 degrees west. The fact of the matter is that there are only
a handful of people across the globe that have had the opportunity to experience
this technical marvel that melds some of the world’s best aerospace contractors
with the expertise of the Norwegian designed and operated Assembly and Command
ship and Launch Platform. Anyone who has
had the opportunity to tour our facility or has had one of the many
informational briefings provided describing the operation and international
participation is truly in awe. Perhaps
the second most asked question right after the “Is there anyone on the Launch
Platform during a launch?” is “How long does it take and what do you do every
day?” This blog will attempt to
chronicle daily life onboard the Assembly and Command Ship (ACS) as we transit
to the launch site, launch and return home.
Astrium Team Departure Photo
Departing the Home Port Pier
It is my first attempt at “blogging” so I apologize in
advance for any faux pas that I may make and as far as grammar goes…I am an
Engineer enough said. So much for the
background now let’s get on with the blog.
Me with the Eutelsat Customer looking out over the Port of Long Beach
RF Technician Extraordinaire Bob Roggendorf bidding farewell to Home Port
Day 1 is the get acquainted day in my view.
1.
We get acquainted with the multi-national launch
team consisting of over 7 different cultures
2.
We get acquainted with a new set of legs, since
the ones used on land do not seem to work the same way on a ship, rubber comes
to mind.
3.
We get acquainted with the dining hall and what
seems to be a never ending supply of everything you promised yourself you were
not going to eat on this voyage. Your will power is at its best on day 1 but
will be tested regularly. You can always
tell a newbie by the pile of food on his plate.
4.
We get acquainted with our life vest and life
boat as we practice evacuation drills in the event of an emergency. See #1 above and then imagine how snuggly
they are able to fit sardines into a can, it is not a pleasant feeling but thankfully
is short lived.
Everyone at their Muster Station practicing safety drills
More practice entering the life boat in a nice orderly fashion
Keeping our customer smiling even when wedged into the life boat!
5.
We get acquainted with our new bruise’s (see
#2). King Neptune is treating us to 4
meter (12 feet) swells on this voyage so we are bumping into everything.
Finally everything and everyone begins to settle in and by
the end of the night you are typically exhausted and ready to be rolled to
sleep by the not so gentle swells. Some
may take advantage of a small social gathering in the ACS bar but typically
most settle into their bunks.
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