Day 11 - L-2 Day

First an apology for my delayed posting for Saturday. As I sat down to write the post and review the many photos taken during the day, the gentle rocking of the ship forced my eyes closed and they did not open again until the morning. So for those of you who have already looked for a new post and saw only two photos, sorry but here it is a little late.

After yesterday’s  L-2 Day initialization work was performed today the teams begin preparations to roll out and erect the rocket on L-1 Day. Although there is a lot of significant work taking place on both vessels by each segment probably the stars of the show today again goes to the Marine crew for “link Bridge” operations. The reality is that there are so many behind the scenes stories that need to come together to execute a launch at sea it is a challenge to decide which to write about and when given all of the activity that occurs over the 3 days leading up to launch. So to all of my teammates onboard both vessels I apologize in advance if we do not get to your teams specific contribution while here at the launch site but will try to catch up during our trip home.

The day started early with the first link bridge occurring just as the sun was rising in the east at 0800. Over the course of the day there will be a total of four link bridge operations in which over 530 people, from all segments, will walk 21m (63ft) over open water from one vessel to the other. Granted they are in a well-protected covered bridge, but it is a metal grate floor allowing all who cross to visually see the beautiful blue equatorial waters below…if they choose!

To try and put this in perspective as to how skilled the Barber Moss Maritime (BMM) Marine Segment team is to conduct this operation, for those of you who have been following along you may remember Transit Day 6 post when the LP and ACS met up they maintained a safe distance of 2.7 kilometers between them. During link bridge operations these two large steel vessels come within 30 meters (~98 feet) of each other. To put that in perspective as a driver of an automobile at just 25mph you typically keep a safe following distance of 111 feet between cars. So to put it in more quantitative terms the vessels are Really, Really Close…!!!

Needless to say this is considered one of our more critical operations and it takes a significant number of well-trained marine crew members to pull it off in both the light of day and pitch of dark. Although the Captains of each vessel have ultimate control and oversight of this operation the operators are key to its success. There are over 20 people directly involved in performing this operation. The link bridge is operated manually by the ACS Bosun, Alfredo Andal and the support crew Joseph Famanila, and Jose Neil Mission. The Bosun is responsible to physically place the bridge down on the LP deck in precise position and monitor its movement. The bridge is programmed to AutoLift if the distance between the vessels varies by more than +/-4.5m (15ft). The Differential Position (DP) operators on both vessels manage the physical distance between the vessels using the DP system. DP Operators onboard the ACS Ricky Jumuad & Karol Kwasinewski work together with the LP DP operators Borre Pedersen & Damian Konarzewski to ensure the vessels maintain the necessary safe distance between them. Safety Officers Cleaton Duguid and Vadym Prokhorenko onboard the LP and ACS respectively keep a watchful eye on the physical crossing of personnel to ensure a safe crossing. Then of course there are the link bridge control personnel on the ACS including Chief Officer Terje Ulset, 2nd. Engineer Johan Tholix and Electrician Igor Medvid. These folks are true professionals in all regards and performed flawlessly today allowing the on time safe passage of over 530 people, Thank You for a Job Well Done.

Link Bridge at Sunrise, a beautiful way to start the day, only wish I was a better photographer to capture the moment in its true beauty...

 

Block DM Technical Works Manager V. Panarin watches Link Bridge operations... like I said Really, Really Close....!

 

 

ACS Safety Officer, Vadym Prokhorenko

 

Link Bridge at Sunset, a great way to end the day...

 

For Rocket Segment operations today the teams are readying the launch vehicle and launch support equipment (LSE) for the launch vehicle rollout and erect planned for L-1 Day. The LSE is operated and maintained by Russia’s TsENKi team under Veniamin Veretennikov. The TsENKi team spent the day preparing the equipment necessary to load the propellants (Kerosene, and Liquid Oxygen) on the launch vechicle as well as starting the compressors to provide conditioned air to the launch vehicle as well as other tasks. The launch vehicle was also prepared for rollout and erect operations including the Boeing built Payload Unit, headed by Lance Neal, the RSC Energia built Block DM-SL upper stage with oversight of DM Works Manager Vladimir Panarin and the Yuzhmash built Zenit-2S first and second stages under the watchful eye of Yuzhmash’s Technical Head Alexander Naumenko with Yuzhnoye’s Sergii Lytovchenko providing oversight for the Integrated Launch Vehicle (ILV). As far as the Astrium spacecraft team goes, today was a light day with primarily health checks and battery charging operations. Tomorrow (L-1 Day) will be their big day in preparing the satellite for launch.

Another behind the scenes activity also took place today and that is launching of weather balloons. During the course of the mission the Range team led by ELUS’s Bryan Wiese along with the Boeing supplied Launch Weather Specialist, Mike Patnoe and Loads Specialists, Mike Sanders (ELUS) and Paul Morris (Boeing) will launch a total of 7 weather balloons to determine upper level environments including wind direction and speed. One balloon was launched today, two are planned for tomorrow and then four on launch day. The data obtained from the balloons will aid the team in determining acceptable conditions for launch and to help with the post launch analysis.

ELUS Range Coordinator, Bryan Wiese

 

 

Boeing Launch Weather Specialist and Associate Tech Fellow, Mike Patnoe oversees the weather balloon launch

 

Yuzhmash Technical Head, Alexander Naumenko, keeps a watchful eye on the balloon launch below

 

Boeing's RF Technical Fellow, Kosal Svy gets the honor of releasing the first balloon

 

RF Systems Engineer Robert W. Roggendorf Jr. monitors the weather balloons ascent with the help of Semco's Richard Dutchik and camera shy Don Domonoske

Overall the entire launch team performed flawlessly today with all L-2 Day activities being completed in full scope as confirmed by the Mission Director Dr. Valery Aliev at his 21:00 status meeting. The team is ready for L-1 Day operations….Great job by all!

Even though a lot of work was accomplished today team members found some time to enjoy a little fishing.



Proudly displaying the first catch Pavel Filyaev and his fishing consultant Lance Neal

 

Kosal Svy after his balloon launch attempts a little fishing... based upon results he might want to stick to launching balloons...

 

 

Thanks again to all for reading and supporting the blog by clicking on the g+1 and for the great comments keep them coming...