Last Single Stick Delta IV Blasts off with USAF GPS Satellite: Photos

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 23 Aug 2019

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Aug 30, 7 PM: Skyscrapers Inc Astronomical Society, Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island

“Exploring Mars and the Search for life – 3D” – Learn all about NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover illustrated with Ken’s custom created Mars rover panoramas from Curiosity, Spriit and Opportunity and up close clean room and launch pad views. Plus brief presentation from Space Shuttle seamstress Jean Wright. Free and open to public.

Ken’s Space/Rocket/Mars imagery for sale to support his outreach

Website:  http://www.theskyscrapers.org/

http://www.theskyscrapers.org/special-presentation-by-dr-ken-kremer

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=105601

NASA Taps Marshall to Lead Artemis Human Lander Development

On Aug. 16, 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine announced the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, will lead the Human Landing System Program. Bridenstine was joined by Representatives Mo Brooks and Robert Aderholt of Alabama and Representative Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee. NASA will rapidly develop the lander for safely carrying the first woman and the next man to the Moon’s surface in 2024. The Artemis missions will start with launch by the world’s most powerful rocket, NASA’s Space Launch System, also managed by Marshall. Bridenstine made the announcement in front of the 149-foot-tall SLS liquid hydrogen structural test article, currently being tested to help ensure the structure can safely launch astronauts on the Artemis lunar missions.  Credits: NASA Television

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 18 Aug 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL  –  NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has selected NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center to lead the development of the Artemis human lunar lander for a return to the Moon’s surface by 2024, during an announcement from Marshall broadcast live on NASA TV on Aug 16, 2019. 

Bridenstine made the announcement in front of the 149-foot-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket liquid hydrogen tank structural test article currently being tested at Marshall.

NASA is already developing the SLS megarocket to launch astronauts to the Moon aboard the Orion deep space capsule.  

Orion will dock at the Gateway mini space station in lunar orbit which is also under development by NASA. 

But to get those astronauts to the lunar surface requires development of a human lander – which had been the missing element and was was the subject of the Aug. 16 announcement. 

Back in March, Vice President Mike Pence challenged NASA to accelerate plans to return to the Moon and announced the Trump Administrations new goal of achieving an American lunar landing by 2024 at the south pole with the first woman and next man from NASA’s astronaut corps.  

That 2024 landing target is four years earlier then NASA’s prior goal of 2028 and would  take place on the Artemis-3 mission.  The recently renamed program derives from Artemis being the twin sister of Apollo – NASA’s original Moon landing program begun by President Kennedy.

Artists concept for NASA’s human return to the Moon’s surface by 2024 under Project Artemis. Credit: NASA

Here are the details from NASA:

"NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine was joined Friday by U.S. Representatives Mo Brooks and Robert Aderholt of Alabama and Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee at the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, to announce the center’s new role leading the agency’s Human Landing System Program for its return to the Moon by 2024.

“Marshall Space Flight Center is the birthplace of America’s space program. It was Marshall scientists and engineers who designed, built, tested, and helped launch the giant Saturn V rocket that carried astronauts on the Apollo missions to the Moon,” Brooks said. “Marshall has unique capabilities and expertise not found at other NASA centers. I’m pleased NASA has chosen Marshall to spearhead a key component of America’s return to the Moon and usher in the Artemis era. Thanks to Administrator Bridenstine for travelling here to share the great news in person.”

Bridenstine discussed the announcement in front of the 149-foot-tall Space Launch System (SLS) rocket liquid hydrogen tank structural test article currently being tested.

“We greatly appreciate the support shown here today by our representatives in Congress for NASA’s Artemis program and America’s return to the Moon, where we will prepare for our greatest feat for humankind – putting astronauts on Mars,” Bridenstine said. “We focus on a ‘One NASA’ integrated approach that uses the technical capabilities of many centers. Marshall has the right combination of expertise and experience to accomplish this critical piece of the mission.”

Informed by years of expertise in propulsion systems integration and technology development, engineers at Marshall will work with American companies to rapidly develop, integrate, and demonstrate a human lunar landing system that can launch to the Gateway, pick up astronauts and ferry them between the Gateway and the surface of the Moon.

“Marshall Space Flight Center, and North Alabama, have played a key role in every American human mission to space since the days of Mercury 7. I am proud that Marshall has been selected to be the lead for the landers program,” said Aderholt. “I am also very proud that Marshall has designed and built the rocket system, the Space Launch System, which will make missions to the Moon and Mars possible. We look forward to working with our industry partners and our NASA partners from around the country.

"NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, which manages major NASA human spaceflight programs including the Gateway, Orion, Commercial Crew and International Space Station, will oversee all aspects related to preparing the landers and astronauts to work together. Johnson also will manage all Artemis missions, beginning with Artemis 1, the first integrated test of NASA’s deep space exploration systems.

The trip to Marshall came the day after Bridenstine visited NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, where he viewed progress on the SLS core stage that will power NASA’s Artemis 1 lunar mission. With the start of testing in June on the liquid hydrogen tank article, and the recent arrival of the liquid oxygen tank at Marshall, which manages the SLS Program, NASA is more than halfway through SLS structural testing.

“The Tennessee Valley, including Huntsville and stretching across Middle Tennessee, is a dynamic, exciting region, home to thousands of men and women – working at both public and private institutions – who are leading the United States into the next age of space exploration,” said DesJarlais. “As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, I am thrilled to visit one of our country’s premier facilities, near Arnold Air Force Base and others, developing the latest spaceflight technology. NASA’s Artemis program will help our country to create another American Century. We can be proud of our achievements, especially here at the Marshall Space Flight Center.”

NASA recently issued a draft solicitation and requested comments from American companies interested in providing an integrated human landing system – a precursor to the final solicitation targeted for release in the coming months. The agency’s human lunar exploration plans are based on a two-phase approach: the first is focused on speed – landing on the Moon within five years, while the second will establish a sustained human presence on and around the Moon by 2028. The agency will use what we learn on the Moon to prepare for the next giant leap – sending astronauts to Mars.
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NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and KSC Director Bob Cabana outline NASA’s Lunar Gateway and Project Artemis lunar landing program by the countdown clock at the Kennedy Space Center on May 23, 2019. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.
………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Aug 30, 7 PM: Skyscrapers Inc Astronomical Society, Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island

“Exploring Mars and the Search for life – 3D” – Learn all about NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover illustrated with Ken’s custom created Mars rover panoramas from Curiosity, Spriit and Opportunity and up close clean room and launch pad views. Plus brief presentation from Space Shuttle seamstress Jean Wright. Free and open to public.

Ken’s Space/Rocket/Mars imagery for sale to support his outreach

Website:  http://www.theskyscrapers.org/

http://www.theskyscrapers.org/special-presentation-by-dr-ken-kremer

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=105601

NASA's Parker Solar Probe Celebrates 2 Trips Around Sun on Year 1 Anniversary

Parker Solar Probe's WISPR instrument saw the solar wind streaming past during the spacecraft's first solar encounter in November 2018.  Credits: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 17 August 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – NASA's Parker Solar Probe is celebrating the completion of two very productive solar orbit trips around the sun on the Year 1 anniversary of its launch on Aug. 12, 2018, Earth.  In that same time Earth had made only a single trip around the Sun.

Parker is now well into its 3^rd high speed orbit around our sun and traveling towards another close solar approach in less than two weeks - on Sept. 1, 2019.

Here are the details from NASA:

Parker Solar Probe is named for Eugene Parker, the physicist who first theorized the solar wind — the constant outflow of particles and magnetic fields from the Sun — in 1958. Parker Solar Probe is the first NASA mission to be named for a living person.

Video Caption: Nicky Fox, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division, reflects on Parker Solar Probe's first year in space with Eugene Parker, after whom the mission is named. In 1958, Parker published the first scientific paper theorizing the existence of the solar wind, now studied by the spacecraft that bears his name.  Credits: University of Chicago

In the year since launch, Parker Solar Probe has collected a host of scientific data from two close passes by the Sun.

"We're very happy," said Nicky Fox, director of NASA's Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "We've managed to bring down at least twice as much data as we originally suspected we’d get from those first two perihelion passes."

The spacecraft carries four suites of scientific instruments to gather data on the particles, solar wind plasma, electric and magnetic fields, solar radio emission, and structures in the Sun's hot outer atmosphere, the corona. This information will help scientists unravel the physics driving the extreme temperatures in the corona — which is counterintuitively hotter than the solar surface below — and the mechanisms that drive particles and plasma out into the solar system.

Video Caption: Parker Solar Probe's WISPR instrument saw the solar wind streaming past during the spacecraft's first solar encounter in November 2018.  Credits: NASA/Naval Research Laboratory/Parker Solar Probe

Parker Solar Probe's WISPR instrument captures images of solar wind structures as they stream out from the Sun, allowing scientists to connect them with Parker's in situ measurements from its other instruments.

This video, which spans Nov. 6-10, 2018, combines views from both WISPR telescopes during Parker Solar Probe's first solar encounter. The Sun is out of frame past the combined image's left side, so the solar wind flows from left to right past the view of the telescopes. The bright structure near the center of the left edge is what's known as a streamer —  a relatively dense, slow flow of solar wind coming from the Sun — originating from near the Sun's equator.

The video appears to speed up and slow down throughout the movie because of the ways data is stored at different points in Parker Solar Probe's orbit. Near perihelion, the closest approach to the Sun, the spacecraft stores more images — and more frames for a given section make the video appear to slow down. These images have been calibrated and processed to remove background noise.

The Milky Way's galactic center is visible on the right side of the video. The planet visible on the left is Mercury. The thin white streaks in the image are particles of dust passing in front of WISPR's cameras.

The mission team is currently in the process of analyzing data from Parker Solar Probe's first two orbits, which will be released to the public in 2019.

"The data we’re seeing from Parker Solar Probe’s instruments is showing us details about solar structures and processes that we have never seen before,” said Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe project scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, which built and operates the mission for NASA. “Flying close to the Sun — a very dangerous environment — is the only way to obtain this data, and the spacecraft is performing with flying colors.”

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The United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA's Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun and dive into the corona, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. From camera at pad. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

The $1.5 Billion mission began with a dazzling middle-of-the-night blastoff of the mighty Delta IV Heavy rocket in the wee hours of the morning, Aug. 12 – and delivered the car sized spacecraft to its intended trajectory towards Venus and the Sun.

The 23-story tall triple barreled United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket successfully launched at 3:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 12 from the Florida Space Coast and put on a brilliant display of fire power with 2.1 million pounds of thrust spewing forth from the trio of liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen RS-68A main engines that quickly turned night into day a few hours before the natural sunrise under nearly cloud-free skies.

The mission will conduct 7 Venus flyby’s to set up 24 perihelion close encounters with the sun through 2024. The Venus flyby’s will precisely set its trajectory toward the Sun and slow the probe down instead of speeding it up. 

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

………….

Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Aug 30, 7 PM: Skyscrapers Inc Astronomical Society, Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island

“Exploring Mars and the Search for life – 3D” – Learn all about NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover illustrated with Ken’s custom created Mars rover panoramas from Curiosity, Spriit and Opportunity and up close clean room and launch pad views. Plus brief presentation from Space Shuttle seamstress Jean Wright. Free and open to public.

Ken’s Space/Rocket/Mars imagery for sale to support his outreach

Website:  http://www.theskyscrapers.org/

http://www.theskyscrapers.org/special-presentation-by-dr-ken-kremer

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=105601

Sierra Nevada Corp. Selects ULA Vulcan to Launch Dream Chaser Cargo Missions for NASA to ISS

ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser on cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station in this artists concept. Credit: ULA/ Sierra Nevada Corporation

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 14 August 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) announced today, Aug 14, the selection of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) new Vulcan Centaur rocket as the launch vehicle provider for the Dream Chaser^® spacecraft’s for cargo resupply mission for NASA missions to the International Space Station (ISS) starting in late 2021. 

The ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket now under development as a replacement for the Atlas V and Delta IV rocket families will launch all six of SNCs Dream Chaser cargo missions under terms of the NASA’s Commercial Resupply Services 2 (CRS-2) contract awarded in 2016.

The Vulcan launches of the Dream Chaser spaceplane will take place from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force in Florida – current home to the Atlas V.  


“I am so excited. In this very competitive launch vehicle market, we feel privileged that SNC chose to launch this block of six missions to the ISS with ULA,” said Tory Bruno, ULA president and CEO, at a media briefing today at Sierra Nevada’s Space Systems division headquarters in Louisville, Colorado.

“This is one of the first contracts for our new Vulcan Centaur rocket, and the first of the six missions will serve as the rocket’s second certification flight. We are excited to bring our more than 120 years of combined launch experience with our Atlas and Delta rockets, which build on a progressive history of technology development and advancement, to Vulcan Centaur.” 

“SNC selected ULA because of our strong collaboration on the Dream Chaser program, their proven safety record and on-time performance.  This is bringing America’s spaceplane and America’s rocket together for best-of-breed innovation and exploration,” said SNC CEO Fatih Ozmen.  

ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser on cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station in this artists concept. Credit: ULA/ Sierra Nevada Corporation

ULA has launched 134 successful missions to date – the most recent being the AEHF-5 military comsat for the USAF last week on Aug. 8. Read our articles.

“We have never failed. We will not fail you,” Bruno stated emphatically.

Dream Chaser will launch on a Vulcan inside a 5 meter diameter payload fairing, with 4 strap on SRBs for the first stage and a two engine RL-10C Centaur upper stage. 

The Dream Chaser spaceplane is essentially a mini-shuttle. On return from Earth it will make runway landings  at Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility- just like NASA’s Space Shuttle orbiters.  

With that Vulcan Centaur lifting power, “the Dream Chaser will deliver more than 12,000 pounds (5450 kg) of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the space station and remains attached for up to 75 days as an orbiting laboratory.  Once the mated mission is complete, the Dream Chaser disposes about 7,000 pounds (3200 kg) of space station trash and returns large quantities of critical science, accessible within minutes after a gentle runway landing.”

ULA Vulcan Centaur rocket will launch Sierra Nevada Corporation Dream Chaser on cargo resupply mission for NASA to the International Space Station in this artists concept. Credit: ULA/ Sierra Nevada Corporation

The first Dream Chaser mission will launch on only the second certification mission for the Vulcan.

If Vulcan is not ready, Bruno stated that Dream Chaser can launch on the existing Atlas V.  

Many of the Vulcan components will be flown on the Atlas V first to reduce risk for Dream Chaser. 

SNC joins Northrop Grumman and SpaceX as the 3^rd ISS cargo provider for NASA.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Aug 30, 7 PM: Skyscrapers Inc Astronomical Society, Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island

“Exploring Mars and the Search for life – 3D” – Learn all about NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover illustrated with Ken’s custom created Mars rover panoramas from Curiosity, Spriit and Opportunity and up close clean room and launch pad views. Plus brief presentation from Space Shuttle seamstress Jean Wright. Free and open to public. 

Ken’s Space/Rocket/Mars imagery for sale to support his outreach

Website:  http://www.theskyscrapers.org/

http://www.theskyscrapers.org/special-presentation-by-dr-ken-kremer

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=105601

ULA Atlas V Roars to Orbit with Air Force AEHF-5 Relay Satellite for American Troops Generating ‘Space Jellyfish’: Gallery

Streaking to Orbit and generating a ‘space jellyfish’: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for the USAF blasts off at twilights dawn to GTO in this wide angle fisheye photo on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Ken Kremer -- SpaceUpClose.com & RocketSTEM – 12 August 2019

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, FL – The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket put on an absolutely awesome display of fire and fury while generating a beautifully picturesque ‘space jellyfish’ moments after the dawn blastoff of the Advanced Extremely High Frequency-5 (AEHF-5) national security communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force maintaining global relay connectivity of American and Allied troops and commanders in a worst case scenario of nuclear war.

The ULA Atlas V AEHF-5 blastoff and streak skywards to geostationary orbit certainly counts as one of the most beautiful and thrilling launches ever witnessed from the Florida Space Coast – everyone unanimously agreed!

The 20-story tall ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the $1.2 Billion Lockheed Martin built AEHF-5 military satcom mission for the U.S. Air Force Space Command finally lifted off from seaside Space Launch Complex-41, Thursday, Aug. 8 at 6:13 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, FL.

Enjoy all the exquisite action through our exclusive Space UpClose gallery of photos and videos stationed at the Cape and the launch pad. Check back as the gallery grows. 

Read our complete launch story here. 

Up Close Engine view of the fiery fury spewing from the five first stage Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ-60A solid rocket boosters and liquid fueled dual nozzle Russian made RD-180 engine after launch of the ULA Atlas V carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on US national security mission. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Some five and a half hours after liftoff AEHF-5 was released from the Centaur upper stage and successfully delivered the 6.8 ton behemoth to geostationary transfer orbit (GTO). 

ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force blasts off on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on a national security mission securely connecting US troops globally with US national leadership. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

Streaking to Orbit and generating a ‘space jellyfish’: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for the USAF blasts off at twilights dawn to GTO in this wide angle fisheye photo on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

After orbit raising thrust firings over the next few weeks AEHF-5 will operate in geostationary orbit circling 22,300 miles (36000 kilometers) above Earth.

ULA Atlas V rocket carrying the Advanced Extremely High Frequency AEHF-5 jam resistant military communications satellite for the U.S. Air Force blasts off on Aug. 8, 2019 at 6:13 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on a national security mission securely connecting US troops globally with US national leadership. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com

AEHF-5 is fifth in line of a jam-resistant six-satellite constellation vital for U.S. National Defense joining four others already in orbit.

The satellite was encapsulated inside a RUAG Space built short payload fairing (PLF) - approximately 5.4 meters (17-feet) in diameter and 20.7 meters (68-feet) tall for the ride to orbit. 

The 197 foot tall (60 m) workhorse Atlas V rocket launched in the commanding 551 configuration which comprises a LOX & RP-1 kerosene-fueled common core booster powered by a Russian-made RD-180 main engine, a five-meter-diameter payload fairing built by RUAG Space in Switzerland, five first stage strap-on AJ-60A solid rocket motors built by Aerojet-Rocketdyne and a single RL-10C engine LOX & LH2 fueled Centaur upper stage.

The nuclear hardened AEHF satellites provide secure, protected communications that instantly connect US warfighters on the ground across the globe with military commanders and top US leadership including the President to control their tactical and strategic forces in times of peace and wartime needs critical to US survival. 

The highly advanced satellites are designed to withstand fierce radiation pummeling in nightmare scenarios from enemy nuclear attacks.   

The AEHF satellites are equipped with 2 SHF Downlink Phased Arrays, 2 Crosslinks, 2 Uplink/Downlink Nulling Antennas, 1 Uplink EHF Phased Array, 6 Uplink/Downlink  Gimbaled Dish Antenna, 1 Each Uplink/downlink earth coverage horns.

The data rate capability ranges from 75 bps to approximately 8 Mbps.

The AEHF system includes international partners from the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands.

Add caption

My commentary about both the back to back ULA and SpaceX launches was featured on local Channel 13 Spectrum TV News and the Front Page of Florida Today:

Dr. Ken Kremer/Space UpClose post launch interview with Spectrum News 13 about ULA Atlas V AEHF-5 military comsat launch Aug. 8, 2019. Screenshot: Ken Kremer/Spectrum 13

Dr. Ken Kremer/Space UpClose post launch interview on Florida Today front page Aug. 9, 2019 about ULA Atlas V AEHF-5 launch Aug. 8, 2019

The next Atlas V launch will be the first uncrewed Orbital Flight Test (OFT) of the Boeing Starliner commercial crew vehicle.

No launch date has been announced but could be as soon as late September or October.

But it could come about 4 to 6 weeks after this Atlas, as ULA can now process and stack the next Atlas former NASA astronaut and current Boeing astronaut Chris Ferguson told me recently. 



Ken is onsite at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for live reporting of the ULA AEHF-5 mission launch.

Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and more space and mission reports direct from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.

Stay tuned here for Ken's continuing Earth and Planetary science and human spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com –www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com

Dr. Kremer is a research scientist and journalist based in the KSC area, active in outreach and interviewed regularly on TV and radio about space topics.

………….
Ken’s photos are for sale and he is available for lectures and outreach events

Ken’s upcoming outreach events:

Aug 30, 7 PM: Skyscrapers Inc Astronomical Society, Seagrave Memorial Observatory, 47 Peeptoad Road, North Scituate, Rhode Island:

“Exploring Mars and the Search for life – 3D” – Learn all about NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover illustrated with Ken’s custom created Mars rover panoramas from Curiosity, Spriit and Opportunity and up close clean room and launch pad views. Plus brief presentation from Space Shuttle seamstress Jean Wright.  Free and open to public

Ken’s Space/Rocket/Mars imagery for sale to support his outreach

Website:s  http://www.theskyscrapers.org/

http://www.theskyscrapers.org/special-presentation-by-dr-ken-kremer

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-view.cfm?Event_ID=105601