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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Globalstar Telecommunications Limited GSAT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: brian h who wrote (6027)	7/25/1999 3:59:00 AM
From: Robert	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29987

Brian, update. Sunday, July 25, 1999 Update for 3:52 a.m. EDT T+plus 6 minutes. The official Range liftoff time today was 3:46:03.329 a.m. EDT. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:51 a.m. EDT T+plus 5 minutes. The Delta rocket's first stage has done its job during the first 4 1/2 minutes of flight this morning. Moments ago the first stage main engine cut off and the first and second stages separated. Also, the payload fairing was cleanly jettisoned. The second stage has ignited for the first of its four burns expected during this launch. The first two burns will deliver the Globalstar satellites into their planned orbits, the other two firings of the stage will be made to maneuver itself away from the satellites, then deplete the remaining onboard fuel. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:49 a.m. EDT T+plus 3 minutes. First stage systems are reported normal. Vehicle continues right down the predicted Range track. Altitude: 32 nautical miles, downrange distance: 86 nautical miles, velocity: 4,611 miles per hour. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:48 a.m. EDT T+plus 2 minutes. The Delta 2 rocket continues its steady climb toward space this morning. No problems have been reported. Just over a minute into flight, the four solid rocket motors attached to the rocket's first stage burned out and were jettisoned. Delta is now being powered entirely on the liquid-fueled first stage main engine and the twin vernier steering jets. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:46:03 a.m. EDT Liftoff. Liftoff of the fifth Boeing Delta 2 rocket to carry Globalstar satellites into orbit. And the tower is clear. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:45:33 a.m. EDT T-minus 30 seconds. Hydraulics and electronics reported go. The launch ignition sequence will begin at T-minus 2 seconds when a Boeing engineer triggers the engine start switch. The process begins with ignition of the two vernier engines and first stage main engine start. The four solid rocket motors then light at T-0 for liftoff. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:45:03 a.m. EDT T-minus 1 minute. The Range has issued its final clearance to proceed with launch; second stage hydraulic pump pressures have been verified acceptable and the pump has gone to internal power. Launch pad water system activated. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:44:03 a.m. EDT T-minus 2 minutes. Pressurization of the first stage liquid oxygen tank is now under way. Puffs of vapor from a relief valve on the rocket will be seen in the remainder of the countdown as the tank pressure stabilizes. The four Globalstar spacecraft are go for launch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:43:03 a.m. EDT T-minus 3 minutes. The safety destruct safe and arm devices are being armed. Shortly, the four Globalstar satellites will be declared ready for launch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:42:03 a.m. EDT T-minus 4 minutes and counting. The countdown has restarted for the launch of Delta 273 and Globalstar-5 this morning. All systems are reported go for an on-time liftoff from pad 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla. At this time, launch vehicle systems are going to internal power. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:41:03 a.m. EDT Preparing to resume the countdown in one minute. Now five minutes away from liftoff. There are no problems standing in the way of launch at 3:46:03 a.m. EDT this morning. The Delta 2 today will ascend with a flight azimuth of 65 degrees. Because of Range Safety limits, the vehicle is unable to launch off the pad and head toward the planned orbital inclination of 52 degrees for this mission. So about 70 seconds into flight, the rocket will perform a "dogleg" maneuver to increase orbital inclination, which is needed for the Globalstar spacecraft. The Globalstar satellite constellation uses such an inclination in order to cover most of the planet's surface from an altitude of about 750 nautical miles. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update for 3:37:03 a.m. EDT Now half-way through this built-in hold at T-minus 4 minutes. Launch is still scheduled for 3:46:03 a.m. EDT. A network of tracking stations around the globe are ready to relay telemetry data from the Delta 2 rocket during the major events that will occur throughout the launch today. At liftoff, the TEL-4 tracking station here at the Cape will provide coverage of the first stage of flight and second stage engine ignition. As the vehicle heads up the Eastern Seaboard, the New Hampshire tracking site will acquire signal about 5 minutes, 24 seconds into flight. New Hampshire will cover the mission for 6 1/2 minutes through the first cutoff of the second stage. Additional tracking sites in Oakhanger, England and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean can relay data during the long, quiet coast period before the second start of the second stage. The Canberra station in Australia should acquire signal at T+plus 59 minutes, 52 seconds, which is two minutes before the second stage reignites. Canberra will cover the critical burn and deployment of all four satellites during an approximate 20-minute communications pass. About 99 minutes into flight, after the satellites have separated, the Vandenberg Air Force Base station will pick up the signal from the second stage to watch two scheduled engine firings. The first is an evasive maneuver to move the spent stage away from the Globalstar satellites. The second will deplete the stage's remaining onboard fuel supply.