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Inaugural Atlas 5 rocket moved to the launch pad BY JUSTIN RAY SPACEFLIGHT NOW Posted: March 11, 2002 Lockheed Martin's first Atlas 5 rocket was rolled out to its Cape Canaveral launch pad Monday for fueling tests and a crucial countdown dress rehearsal.
Lockheed Martin has installed a dummy satellite simulator and full nose cone atop of the Atlas 5 for the test, giving a realistic view of what the rocket will look like when it launches on the inaugural flight. The schedule called for the Atlas first stage to be loaded with RP-1 propellant, a highly refined kerosene on Monday. On Tuesday, the launch team will assemble for a full countdown that will include loading the first stage with super-cold liquid oxygen and the Centaur upper stage with its supply of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. If the tests go well, the rocket will be safed and then rolled back to its assembly building on Wednesday. This is the first of three such dress rehearsals planned before launch. Lockheed Martin delayed this initial countdown test by two weeks to deconflict the busy work schedules for the Atlas team, which successfully launched the first Atlas 3B rocket on February 21 and an Atlas 2A rocket last Friday. Crews did roll the rocket to the pad last Wednesday, however, for RP-1 loading exercises and tests with the Air Force-controlled Eastern Range at the Cape. The vehicle was then returned to the hangar on Thursday. The maiden Atlas 5 launch, originally scheduled for May 9, has slipped into June due to delays readying the rocket's paying cargo -- Eutelsat's Hot Bird-6 direct-to-home TV broadcasting satellite.
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Now showing For Spaceflight Now+Plus service (subscribers only): QuickTime or RealVideo QuickTime or RealVideo QuickTime or RealVideo See full listing of video clips. The Atlas family - Comparison of the Atlas 2, 3 and 5 rockets. Atlas 5 400 description - A look at the pieces that make up the 400-series rocket. Atlas 5 500 description - A look at the pieces that make up the 500-series rocket. Typical Atlas 5 400-series launch - Sample look at launch sequence for Atlas 5 401 vehicle configuration. Typical Atlas 5 500-series launch - Sample look at launch sequence for Atlas 5 551 vehicle configuration. Space Launch Complex 41 - Overview of the Atlas 5 launch site. Soviet Space For the first time ever available in the West. Rocket & Space Corporation Energia: a complete pictorial history of the Soviet/Russian Space Program from 1946 to the present day all in full color. Available from our store.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Viking patch This embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA's Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Apollo 7 DVD For 11 days the crew of Apollo 7 fought colds while they put the Apollo spacecraft through a workout, establishing confidence in the machine what would lead directly to the bold decision to send Apollo 8 to the moon just 2 months later.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Gemini 12 Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program's efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Soviet Space For the first time ever available in the West. Rocket & Space Corporation Energia: a complete pictorial history of the Soviet/Russian Space Program from 1946 to the present day all in full color. Available from our store.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Viking patch This embroidered mission patch celebrates NASA's Viking Project which reached the Red Planet in 1976.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Apollo 7 DVD For 11 days the crew of Apollo 7 fought colds while they put the Apollo spacecraft through a workout, establishing confidence in the machine what would lead directly to the bold decision to send Apollo 8 to the moon just 2 months later.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide Gemini 12 Gemini 12: The NASA Mission Reports covers the voyage of James Lovell and Buzz Aldrin that capped the Gemini program's efforts to prove the technologies and techniques that would be needed for the Apollo Moon landings. Includes CD-ROM.U.S. - U.K. - E.U. - Worldwide |
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