Camera No. 2 will show the bell-shaped nozzle of the rockets second-stage Centaur engine extending, and with any luck, youll see the powerplant firing as the Atlas 3 lofts a TV broadcast and Internet services satellite into orbit.
Extraordinary views of the blue Earth from space also are a possibility during the inaugural launch of Lockheed Martins Atlas 3, which is scheduled to take place between 5:37 p.m. and 7:57 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (9:37 p.m. to 11:57 p.m. GMT).
SPACE.com will carry live streaming video of the countdown and launch beginning at 4:30 p.m. EDT (8:30 p.m. GMT). Live video from the "rocket-cams" will be part of the show, and still video pictures also will be posted after the launch.
"The rocket-cams are something weve always wanted to do, and with a new vehicle, it just seemed like the right time," said Julie Andrews, a spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin International Launch Services, which markets the companys Atlas family of rockets as well as Russian Proton launchers.
"The basic plan is to show the launch (from ground cameras) as we normally would, and then cut to whatever looks interesting from the rocket-cams," she said.
Andrews and others expect stunning imagery through the first eight minutes of flight -- or all the way into space.
If, that is, the Atlas 3 gets off the ground as scheduled.
An initial bid to launch the Atlas 3 -- which is the first U.S. space launcher to be powered by a Russian rocket engine -- was scrubbed Monday after a computer that runs a crucial radar tracking system on the Atlantic Ocean island of Bermuda crashed repeatedly.
Considered mandatory for launch support, the radar system tracks rockets in flight so that they can be deliberately destroyed if they careen out of control and threaten coastal of island populations.
A team of troubleshooting engineers -- along with a store of spare computer parts -- were flown to Bermuda from Cape Canaveral earlier today in an effort to repair the balky radar system in time for tonights launch attempt.
"Were hopeful that they can isolate the problem and get it fixed," said Ken Warren, a spokesman for the Air Forces 45th Space Wing, which operates the system.
In any case, Lockheed Martin is marching toward the opening of the two-hour, 20-minute launch window. A second countdown began at 8:47 a.m. EDT (12:47 p.m. GMT) as the companys launch team prepared for a couple of key milestones:
- At 2:37 p.m. EDT (6:37 p.m. GMT), the hulking Mobile Service Tower at Cape Canaverals complex 36A will be moved away from the Atlas 3 as launch preparations continue. The huge gantry provides work platforms for rocket technicians as well as weather protection for the multi-million dollar Atlas 3.
- At 3:32 p.m. EDT (7:32 p.m. GMT), engineers will begin fueling the vehicle for launch. That operation involves pumping liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen into the vehicles single-engine Centaur upper stage as well as liquid oxygen into the Atlas first stage, which is powered by the Russian RD-180 engine.
The fueling operation will continue until the final minutes before launch, and countdown updates will be posted throughout the day at SPACE.coms "Next Launch" page.
The weather outlook for launch, meanwhile, is near perfect. Forecasters are calling for a 90 percent chance that conditions will be acceptable for flight. The only concern: A slight chance that winds might top a 22-knot launch limit.
"The weather looks good, and we arent working any launch vehicle issues," Andrews said. "So my sense is that everybody feels good and wants to go launch this evening."
advertisement
