Launch News Radiation Belt Storm (Van Allen) Probes, Atlas V 401, August 30, 2012

Codz said:
If it isn't one thing, it's another...:dry:
Click to expand...

Sorry pal, you will miss the launch.... :(

RBSP Launch Targeted for No Earlier Than Aug. 30
Sat, 25 Aug 2012 11:10:20 PM UTC

The launch of an Atlas V carrying NASA’s Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) payload was scrubbed today due to weather conditions associated with lightning, as well as cumulus and anvil clouds. With the unfavorable weather forecast as a result of Tropical Storm Isaac, the leadership team has decided to roll the Atlas V vehicle back to the Vertical Integration Facility to ensure the launch vehicle and twin RBSP spacecraft are secured and protected from inclement weather.

Pending approval from the range, the launch is rescheduled to Thursday, Aug. 30 at 4:05 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
Click to expand...
 
Eh well, that's life on the Cape I suppose. It was nice to see it out on the pad though.

---------- Post added 08-26-12 at 05:02 AM ---------- Previous post was 08-25-12 at 03:58 PM ----------

You know what's sad? The weather here actually looks much better now than it did yesterday...
 
Third time's the charm? ;)

Launch coverage has already begun on NASA TV.
 
First stage separation!

---------- Post added at 08:10 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 AM ----------

Fairing separation.

---------- Post added at 08:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:10 AM ----------

First Centaur shutdown.
 
 
NASA News Release:
MEDIA ADVISORY : M12-213
NASA Ceremony to Rename Twin Earth Radiation Belt Spacecraft

Nov. 7, 2012

WASHINGTON -- Media representatives are invited to attend a ceremony to announce the renaming of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP). The event takes place Nov. 9 from 2 p.m. to 3:30 pm EST, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Building 200, 11101 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, Md.

Along with the announcement of a new name and presentations highlighting the spacecraft's commissioning activities, there will be a tour of the RBSP mission operation facilities.

The ceremony's speakers include:
  • John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington
  • Ralph Semmel, director, APL
  • Mona Kessel, RBSP program scientist, NASA Headquarters
  • Rick Fitzgerald, Space Department program area manager, APL

{...}
 
 
NASA: NASA's Van Allen Probes Reveal New Dynamics of Earth's Radiation Belts


This high-cadence sampling data, taken by the Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) instruments on NASA's Van Allen Probes right after launch, reveals a strong correlation between chorus waves (the bird-like sounds recorded by EMFISIS) and disturbance storm time (DST), a value used to measure geomagnetic activity during magnetic storms. A drop in DST (top) can be seen to correlate with an increase in chorus activity (more red, orange, and yellow) in the bottom plot. This correlation may be central to the association of strong particle acceleration with some magnetic storms; scientists are working now to learn more about the exact processes at work. Credit: University of Iowa/NASA.​


Sky & Telescope: Van Allen Probes Peek at Earth's Radiation Belts
 
:lol: owl flyby at :56 seconds on launch video :thumbup:
 
NASA:
NASA's Van Allen Probes Discover a Surprise Circling Earth

After most NASA science spacecraft launches, researchers wait patiently for months as instruments on board are turned on one at a time, slowly ramped up to full power, and tested to make sure they work at full capacity. It's a rite of passage for any new satellite in space, and such a schedule was in place for the Van Allen Probes when they launched on Aug. 30, 2012, to study two giant belts of radiation that surround Earth.

But a group of scientists on the mission made a case for changing the plan. They asked that the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope (REPT) be turned on early – just three days after launch -- in order that its observations would overlap with another mission called SAMPEX (Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer), that was soon going to de-orbit and re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

It was a lucky decision. Shortly before REPT turned on, solar activity on the sun had sent energy toward Earth that caused the radiation belts to swell. The REPT instrument worked well from the moment it was turned on Sep. 1. It made observations of these new particles trapped in the belts, recording their high energies, and the belts' increased size.

Then something happened no one had ever seen before: the particles settled into a new configuration, showing an extra, third belt extending out into space. Within mere days of launch, the Van Allen Probes showed scientists something that would require rewriting textbooks.

[table="head;width=670"]
Click on image to enlarge​



Two giant swaths of radiation, known as the Van Allen Belts, surrounding Earth were discovered in 1958. In 2012, observations from the Van Allen Probes showed that a third belt can sometimes appear. The radiation is shown here in yellow, with green representing the spaces between the belts.
Credit: NASA/Van Allen Probes/Goddard Space Flight Center​
[/table]​


"By the fifth day REPT was on, we could plot out our observations and watch the formation of a third radiation belt," says Shri Kanekal, the deputy mission scientist for the Van Allen Probes at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. and a coauthor of a paper on these results. "We started wondering if there was something wrong with our instruments. We checked everything, but there was nothing wrong with them. The third belt persisted beautifully, day after day, week after week, for four weeks."

The scientists published their results in a paper in the journal Science on Feb. 28, 2013. Incorporating this new configuration into their models of the radiation belts offers scientists new clues to what causes the changing shapes of the belts – a region that can sometimes swell dramatically in response to incoming energy from the sun, impacting satellites and spacecraft or pose potential threats to manned space flight.

{...}



Van Allen Probes:

NASAexplorer:

NASAtelevision:


NASA News Release: RELEASE : 13-065 - NASA's Van Allen Probes Reveal a New Radiation Belt Around Earth

NASA: NASA's Van Allen Probes Reveal Previously Undetected Radiation Belt Around Earth - Multimedia Files in Support of the Radiation Belt News Conference

Universe Today: Surprising Third Radiation Belt Found Around Earth

Discovery News: Space Radiation Probes Make 'Shock' Discovery

SpaceRef: Van Allen Probes Reveal a New Radiation Belt Around Earth

SPACE.com: NASA Discovers New Radiation Belt Around Earth

EurekAlert:
Phys.org: Third radiation belt can wrap around Earth, probes reveal

Science Daily: NASA's Van Allen Probes Reveal a New Radiation Belt Around Earth
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Owenmck
News DAVINCI+ and VERITAS thread. New NASA missions to Venus
Replies
14
Views
5K
N_Molson
N_Molson
N_Molson
Updates Long March 5 / Tianwen 1 [orbiting Mars] / Zhurong rover [soft-landed]
Replies
12
Views
7K
N_Molson
N_Molson
IronRain
Launch News Falcon Heavy | STP-2 | June 25, 2019 03:30:00 UTC - June 25, 2019 07:30:00 UTC
Replies
10
Views
9K
Thunder Chicken
Thunder Chicken
Nicholas Kang
Launch News SUCCESS-Farewell Delta-II! NASA ICESat-2 Mission (Sat. Sep 15, 0902 EDT/0602 PDT)
Replies
9
Views
5K
Notebook
Notebook
IronRain
Updates ICON to Explore Boundary Between Earth and Space
Replies
5
Views
3K
IronRain
IronRain
Back
Top