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