Soyuz TMA-08M, identified as Soyuz 34 or 34S by NASA, is a 2013 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 35 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-08M is the 117th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching in 1967. The Russian Soyuz TMA-08M utilized the new 6-hour fast rendezvous flight profile developed by the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA) and previously tested on Progress M-16M and M-17M, instead of the usual two-day rendezvous, making it possible for crew members to leave ground facilities and board the International Space Station in less time than a typical transatlantic flight.
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, announced today that its Minotaur V rocket successfully launched NASA\’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) satellite. Originating from Wallops Flight Facility in eastern Virginia late yesterday, the LADEE mission marked the first launch of Orbital’s Minotaur V rocket and the fifth Minotaur vehicle to be launched from the Wallops facility.
The first stage of Minotaur V ignited at 11:27 p.m. (EDT) and separated the LADEE spacecraft 23 minutes later into its intended insertion point, successfully completing the rocket’s five-stage sequence. With the placement of LADEE into its highly elliptical orbit, the spacecraft began its 30-day journey to the Moon. Upon reaching its nominal orbit approximately 31 miles above the lunar surface, LADEE will collect data on the Moon’s exosphere and lunar dust environment. It will also gather information derived from new laser communications technologies, which will likely prove beneficial for future deep space missions.
“The launch of NASA’s LADEE spacecraft aboard our new Minotaur V rocket was a tremendous success, building on our exemplary track record with today’s 24th fully successful Minotaur launch,” said Mr. Lou Amorosi, Orbital’s Senior Vice President of Orbital’s Small Space Launch Vehicle business.
“This mission further demonstrates the capabilities of our well-established Minotaur rocket family and our commitment to providing reliable access to
space.”
The Minotaur V is a five-stage space launch vehicle designed, built and operated by Orbital for the U.S. Air Force. It uses three decommissioned
Peacekeeper government-supplied booster stages that Orbital combines with commercial motors for the upper two stages to produce a low-cost rocket for
launching smaller spacecraft into low-Earth orbit and higher-energy trajectories, such as the trans-lunar flight of the LADEE mission.
Under the Orbital/Suborbital Program (OSP) contract, which is managed by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Space
Development and Test Directorate (SMC/SD) Launch Systems Division (SMC/SDL) located at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Orbital designs,
integrates, tests and provides launch services to orbit with the Minotaur I, IV, V and VI rockets, as well as other suborbital capabilities with the
Minotaur II and III configurations. The company has launched a total of 23 Minotaur rockets with a 100% success record dating back to January 2000.
Employing a combination of U.S. government-supplied rocket motors and Orbital’s proven commercial launch technologies, the Minotaur family of
launchers provides reliable and low-cost access to space for government-sponsored payloads. The rockets are specifically designed to be
capable of launching from all major U.S. spaceports, including government and commercial launch sites in Alaska, California, Virginia and Florida.
Orbital’s use of standardized avionics and subsystems, mature processes and experienced personnel make Minotaur rockets both reliable and
cost-effective for U.S. government customers.
“A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying a payload for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) lifts off from Space Launch Complex-6. Designated NROL-65, the mission is in support of national defense. This is ULA\’s eighth launch in 2013, the 24th Delta IV mission and the second Delta IV Heavy launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base.”
“Liftoff of Ariane Flight VA215 carrying EUTELSAT 25B/Es\’hail 1 and GSAT-7. Liftoff occurred from Europe\’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 20:30 GMT (22:30 CET; 17:30 French Guiana) on 29 August 2013.”
The Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (or IRIS) is a space probe to observe the Sun. It is a NASA Small Explorer program mission to investigate the physical conditions of the solar limb, particularly the chromosphere of the Sun. Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory (LMSAL) integrated the observatory. The observatory consists of a spacecraft and spectrometer that LMSAL built, and a telescope provided by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Now that it is in orbit it is being operated by Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory and NASA Ames Research Center. Its instrument is a high-frame-rate UV imaging spectrometer; one image a second, 0.3 arcsec spatial resolution, and sub-angstrom spectral resolution. NASA announced on June 19, 2009 that IRIS was selected from six small explorer mission candidates for further study, along with the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS) space observatory.
The spacecraft arrived at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. on April 16, 2013 and was successfully launched on June 27, 2013 on a Pegasus-XL rocket. IRIS achieved first light on July 17, 2013. NASA noted, “IRIS\’s first images showed a multitude of thin, fibril-like structures that have never been seen before, revealing enormous contrasts in density and temperature occur throughout this region even between neighboring loops that are only a few hundred miles apart.”
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