Antares A-ONE mission was the maiden flight of Orbital Sciences Corporation'

Antares Antares is the brightest star in the constellation of Scorpius. It has the Bayer designation α Scorpii, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Scorpii. Often referred to as "the heart of the scorpion", Antares is flanked by ...

launch vehicle A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...

including the ascent to space and accurate delivery of a simulated payload, the Cygnus Mass Simulator (CMS), which was launched 21 April 2013. It was launched from Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (MARS),

Wallops Flight Facility Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) is a rocket launch site on Wallops Island on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States, just east of the Delmarva Peninsula and approximately north-northeast of Norfolk, VA, Norfolk. The facility is operated ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. The simulated payload simulates the mass of the Cygnus cargo spacecraft. This dummy payload was sent into an orbit of with an orbital inclination of 51.63°, the same launch profile it will use for Orbital's Cygnus cargo supply missions to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS) for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

. This launch along with several other activities leading up to it, are paid milestones under NASA's

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) was a NASA program to spur the development of Private spaceflight, private spacecraft and launch vehicles for deliveries to the International Space Station (ISS). Launched in 2006, COTS successful ...

(COTS) program.

Primary payload

The primary payload was the Cygnus Mass Simulator. It had a height of , a diameter of and a mass of . It was equipped with 22

accelerometer An accelerometer is a device that measures the proper acceleration of an object. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change (mathematics), rate of change of velocity) of the object relative to an observer who is in free fall (tha ...

s, 2 microphones, 12 digital thermometers, 24

thermocouple A thermocouple, also known as a "thermoelectrical thermometer", is an electrical device consisting of two dissimilar electrical conductors forming an electrical junction. A thermocouple produces a temperature-dependent voltage as a result of the ...

s and 12 strain gages.

Secondary payloads

Four Spaceflight Industries Inc.

CubeSat A CubeSat is a class of small satellite with a form factor of cubes. CubeSats have a mass of no more than per unit,, url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5418c831e4b0fa4ecac1bacd/t/5f24997b6deea10cc52bb016/1596234122437/CDS+REV14+2020-07-3 ...

nanosatellites were deployed from the dummy payload. The secondary payloads were four

s that were deployed from the CMS. Three of them were PhoneSats, 1U CubeSats built by NASA's Ames Research Center. These were named

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, Graham and

Bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

, after the

Alexander Graham Bell Alexander Graham Bell (; born Alexander Bell; March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922) was a Scottish-born Canadian Americans, Canadian-American inventor, scientist, and engineer who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. He als ...

, inventor of the

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

. The purpose of these three satellites was to demonstrate the use of

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s as

avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...

in CubeSats. They each had a mass of and were powered by lithium batteries. The fourth nanosat was a 3U CubeSat, called Dove-1, built by Cosmogia Inc. It carried a "technology development

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

imagery experiment" using the

Earth's magnetic field Earth's magnetic field, also known as the geomagnetic field, is the magnetic field that extends from structure of Earth, Earth's interior out into space, where it interacts with the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emanating from ...

for attitude control.

Mission timeline

* Lift off of the Antares launch vehicle occurs two seconds after the first stage engines are ignited * The first stage engines shut off 228 seconds after lift-off * At 233 seconds, the first stage separates from the second * At 317 seconds, the payload fairing is jettisoned * At 326 seconds, the second stage's engine is ignited * At 481 seconds, the second stage is shut off * At 601 seconds, the Cygnus Mass Simulator separates

Launch attempt summary

''Note: Times are local to the launch site (

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behin ...

).''

Gallery

References

External links

Antares Pre-Launch "A-ONE Mission" Briefing

Antares A-One Mission Overview

Video of Pre-Flight Press Conference - Part 1 - YouTube (NASA TV)

Video of Pre-Flight Press Conference - Part 2 - YouTube (NASA TV)

Video of Antares A-One being rolled out to launch pad - YouTube (NASA TV)

Video of the launch of the Antares A-One Mission - YouTube (NASA TV)
{{Orbital launches in 2013 Spacecraft launched in 2013 Cygnus (spacecraft) Spacecraft launched by Antares rockets