ESA's European Space Operations Centre, ESOC, in Germany is 'green' and ready for launch following the pre-launch meeting. The operations systems, satellite and launcher are all good.
MetOp-B, Europe's latest polar-orbiting weather satellite, is set to launch from Baikonur tomorrow at 18:28 CEST. Watch live online.
From Damiano (ESA), Baikonur, 14 September
Yesterday, MetOp reached another milestone on its way to life in space. The final integration with the launcher had been successful and everything was ready for the roll out to the launch pad.
MetOp-B on the launch pad. (ESA)
The day started the rocket and the team getting a religious blessing, a tradition we didn’t want to miss.
At the end of the day, we got another ‘blessing’ : the State Commission gave authorisation to roll out. Before they gave the green light all the teams had to declare the status of the many elements involved in the roll out.
Team blessing before roll out. (ESA)
There was an old picture of a young Gagarin in his white uniform, looking at all of us, witnessing of these rituals. It puts our experience in Baikonur into perspective!
Tower arms closing to secure the Soyuz rocket on the launch pad. (ESA)
From ESA's launch campaign team, Baikonur, 14 September.
The pictures say it all ... MetOp safely rolled out to the launch pad and the weather looks just perfect!
MetOp on the launch pad and ESA launch campaign team. MetOp is set for launch on Monday 17 September at 18:28 CEST. (ESA)
Soyuz carrying MetOp being rolled out to launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. (ESA)
Roll out for MetOp. (ESA)
Being erected on the launch pad. (ESA)
MetOp on the launch pad. (ESA)
Taken from EUMETSAT, 12 September
The mechanical integration of the Upper Composite with Soyuz Block was performed successfully on 11 September, and electrical tests are now underway.
The Upper Composite and Soyuz Block I integrated in the MIK 40 facility (Gökhan Kayal)
Weighing about 12 tonnes (12,000 kilos), the Upper Composite was carefully lifted with a crane onto a train on the afternoon of 10 September. The train and its precious cargo made a slow and steady journey overnight, finally arriving at its destination the following morning.
The Upper Composite is unloaded in the MIK 40 facility (EUMETSAT)
Once safely inside the MIK 40 processing facility, the mechanical integration of the Upper Composite and Soyuz Block I was initiated and completed. The launch team is now conducting a series of electrical tests and everything is running according to schedule.
Metop-B is due to be launched from the base at Baikonur, Kazakhstan at 16:28:40 UTC on 17 September.
Integration with Soyuz Block I (EUMETSAT)
Integration with Soyuz Block I (EUMETSAT)
From Damiano (ESA), Baikonur, 10 September
MetOp-B is in its Soyuz fairing ready to be transported to the Mik-40 for integration on the launcher.
Mating MetOp-B to the launch adapter. (ESA)
It’s been a very busy two weeks here in Baikonur. Getting closer to the end of the campaign, in fact, means also having less time to recover any time spent in solving unexpected issues. And, unfortunately, we’ve had a few …. so, busy long days for the teams. However, we got the green light in the end and we can move closer to the launch pad.
On the launch adapter. (ESA)
After fuelling MetOp we started the combined operation with the launcher. First the spacecraft was mated to the launcher adapter and, in this configuration, we did a functional check to be sure that with the new harness bundles it was still possible to command and control the spacecraft.
Fregat upper stage. (ESA)
The electrical configuration used to perform the test is, in fact, the same configuration that will be used when the launcher is on the pad.
Checking MetOp-B is 'ready for flight'. (ESA)
In parallel, Starsem prepared the Fregat upper stage for mating with MetOp. It has been interesting to see how the Russian operators finalised the thermal closure of Fregat; it was like a dressmaker tailoring a piece of clothing on a customer!
Prior to encapsulation: MetOp and the Fregat upper stage. (ESA)
The MetOp/Fregat mating was carried out last week. Starting from that moment on, the whole MetOp team (ESA, EUM, NASA/NOAA, CNES, Selex/Galileo, Astrium) has been busy to finalise the spacecraft and to declare it ready for flight. The sensible device protections (red tag items) have been removed and all the missing flight parts (green tag items) have been installed on the satellite.
Last look as MetOp-B is encapsulated (ESA)
Here in Baikonur, the western space engineering rules and the Russian ones meet … and the differences are big. Before the encapsulation, MetOp, weighing about four tonnes, was tilted, attached to Fregat with less than 10 bolts!
On Saturday, before the encapsulation, we said goodbye to MetOp. One of our Astrium colleague played a serenade …. and then the Russians started to move the fairing towards MetOp.
Encapsulated (ESA)
And a brief note on a simple tool used in mission operations...
Here are some quick photos taken this morning at ESA's European Space Operations Centre (ESOC), Darmstadt, Germany, where the MetOp-B mission operations team is conducting a simulation in the Main Control Room (MCR).
Specifically, it's the 'B'-team doing the sim; the team is split into an A- and a B-team so as to provide 24-hour-per-day staffing in the MCR during the ~72-hour launch and early orbit phase (LEOP) prior to handover to Eumetsat.
MetOp-B Simulation training at ESOC 7 Sep 2012 Credit: ESA
ESA's Andreas Rudolph (see at far right in the photo above) is the Flight Director for the B-team.
MetOp-B Simulation training at ESOC 7 Sep 2012 Credit: ESA
ESOC's newly renovated MCR makes it a little tough to get good photos from behind the glass in the briefing room (we didn't want to disturb the sim too much by going in), but there are in deed engineers sitting at each of the console positions!
Ground Operations console team during sim training for MetOp-B launch, 7 Sep 2012. Credit: ESA
In this photo, the Ground Operations Team – responsible for coordinating the ground tracking stations, networks and ground system software – can be seen; they sit in the MCR at the left rear, behind the Spacecraft Operations Manager (SOM) and the operations engineers.
ESOC Briefing Room planning board - a simple yet critical tool in mission operations! Credit: ESA
A slightly blurry photo of the planning board in the Briefing Room, where the operations team as well as representatives from flight dynamics, ground stations and other supporting teams gather for review/debriefing periodically during simulations and during actual live operations.
Crucial planning tool
You'll note the hand-inked discussion points and information plastered all over the board; but this is no random scribbling!
In fact, as each of the teams provide their input into how the current phase of the mission is going, the flight director marks a careful record of the discussion on the board. He or she also adds in proposals and comments on the best way forward or on how to deal with any problems or issues that have come up that aren't catered for by standard procedures.
This often includes real-time information coming from the the project team (from ESTEC), from Eumetsat (the satellite's owner/operator), the ground stations or the flight operations team, or real-time brainstorming/inspiration.
When time is short (as it always is during any mission's critical LEOP period), the information, plans and conclusions written on the board are the latest record of 'the way ahead'.
ESOC Briefing Room planning board - a simple yet critical tool in mission operations! Credit: ESA
Therefore, to ensure that everyone is in agreement with the discussion, you'll note at top right of the board the initials of each of the team leads, indicating their concurrence with the content – a simple yet effective way to ensure that nothing gets forgotten and that all the expert team leads are in agreement!
From Luca (ESA), Baikonur, 31 August
MetOp-B’s Reaction Control System (RCS) – the mission's thrusters – has been fuelled and pressurised in preparation for launch on 17 September.
Fuelling MetOp-B Credit: ESA
The satellite was transferred to Starsem's Hazardous Processing Facility for the operation and a specialist team from Astrium carefully checked their equipment before operations could begin. The tank of thruster fuel (MetOp uses hydrazine propellant for propulsion. ) was also transferred from the storage area to the facility.
Hydrazine is a hazardous chemical and has to be handled carefully to ensure the safety of both personnel and the spacecraft. Hydrazine is highly flammable and also poses health risks if it comes in contact with skin or is inhaled. The team therefore have to wear protective suits with an air supply for fuelling operations.
The operators are specially trained to work in these suits while they transfer the propellant to MetOp-B’s RCS. The operations are directed from a remote control room under close supervision.
Monitoring hazardous fuelling operations Credit: ESA
The RCS has now been loaded with several hundred kilos of hydrazine and pressurised ready for launch. The next thing is to transfer the satellite to the Upper Composite Integration Facility for mating with the launch adaptor and the Fregat upper stage, before encapsulation in the launcher fairing.
From Marcello (ESA), Baikonur, 7 August.
Activities to prepare the satellite for launch have been running flat out since we resumed the campaign.
Many people from the different teams have now arrived to help finalise the campaign. Consequently, one more important milestone has been achieved! The satellite ‘aliveness test’ was successfully carried out a couple of weeks ago.
MetOp-B launch campaign team
During the test, the payload module, the service module and the instruments were checked. It took quite some effort to optimise the logistics and perform the test as the satellite was in a different facility than where the health check was carried out first time around. So, new cabling had to be prepared and the ground support equipment re-checked.
But it was worth it, as it confirmed that MetOp-B is in good health after the babysitting phase because of the launch postponement.
Also, many of the other mechanical activities have been finalised, the solar arrays are ready, the batteries have been reconditioned, and everything is ready for the green light for the propellant filling scheduled in the week starting 20 August.
So far so good……
Katja (ESA) tells us how the launch campaign team enjoy their one free day every week
As Damiano mentioned in the previous MetOp blog, many of us are spending the summer in hot Baikonur. I can think of lots of worse places to spend the summer months. For one thing, Baikonur is sunny every day. It did rain one day last week – the first time in four months! Although Baikonur is in the Kazakh steppe and the average rainfall in the summer months is low, the town itself is still amazingly green. Lots of trees and flowers have been planted around the town.
'Biergarten' in Arbat
Since we work six long days a week during the MetOp-B launch campaign, our one free day is much appreciated. On Sundays, the most popular activity among the MetOp teams is to cycle around Baikonur. Baikonur is relatively flat so even cycling in high temperatures is doable. Other ways of getting around are to use the local bus or a taxi. Basically any car in the town is a taxi. You can always try to stop a car on the streets and see if they are willing to take you to your destination for a small amount of money. Baikonur can also be explored by foot since the distances are relatively short.
Flowers in Baikonur
One of the town’s main attractions is a market/bazaar. Here you can buy almost anything you can imagine: food, clothes, shoes, household supplies, pottery and souvenirs. Bargaining is customary, which can be a bit challenging since most of us only speak a few words of Russian.
Other than the market, the town offers various other entertainment possibilities. There are ‘biergartens’, various restaurants, a bowling and entertainment centre, a tennis court and even a beach, but swimming is at your own risk!
On Sunday afternoons the town is quiet, but after sunset local people gather on the pedestrian street ‘Arbat’. The children play on the street and the adults enjoy the slightly cooler evenings sitting and chatting on a bench or drinking a beer or Kvass (a drink made of rye bread) in one of the many Biergartens in Arbat.
Yuri Gagarin statue
If would you rather spend your free day in a cool air-conditioned environment the best place is our hotel Sputnik. The day passes by working out in the gym, playing in the gaming room, watching a movie in the TV room or taking a swim in the pool. Afterwards you can enjoy a cold beer in the hotel bar before the dinner.
The MetOp launch campaign weeks are long and busy, but at least our one free day every week can be spent almost as if we are on holiday. So spending summer in Baikonur is not that bad at all.
MSG-3 today captured its first image of Earth with its Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI).
MSG-3 first image (Credits: EUMETSAT)
After performing the critical 11-day Launch and Early Orbit Phase (LEOP), ESA officially handed MSG-3 operations over to Eumetsat on 16 July for the commissioning operations.
Commissioning will last about six months and includes checking that the imaging service is fully functional and delivers high-quality products for weather forecasting. This first image demonstrates that MSG-3 is performing well and is on its way to taking over operational service.
