U.S. Air Force Radar Problem Delays NROL-67 and SpaceX CRS-3 Launches


  • Source: Marc Boucher, SpaceRef
  • Posted March 27, 2014 11:10 AM
  • 1 Comments



©U.S. Army
File photo of MOTR radar at White Sands.

A problem with the U.S. Air Force AN/MPS-39 Multiple Object Tracking Radar (MOTR) at the Eastern Range, reportedly a fire, has delayed the launch of the National Reconnaissance Office's NROL-67 launch and now unofficially SpaceX's launch of the CRS-3 resupply mission to the International Space Station.

Yesterday, United Launch Alliance tweeted that "Prior to the 1st #NROL67 launch attempt Mar 25, an issue developed with a @45thSpaceWing mandatory range asset needed to support the launch."

Through sources at the NASASpaceflight forum that asset was identified as the Air Force MOTR 19.39 radar, though the Air Force has yet to publicly comment or confirm that this is the asset with the problem.


MOTR radar just south of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Credit: Google Maps.

According to U.S. Army which uses the MOTR at White Sands are the "are phased array radars, each capable of simultaneously tracking up to 40 objects within a scan volume of 60 degrees by 60 degrees. Each MOTR phased array antenna is mounted on an azimuth over elevation pedestal so that full hemispheric coverage is possible. The precision of the radar is 0.2 mils (approximately .02 milliradians) in angles and 1.5 yards in range. The peak power of the radar is one-megawatt, but a mix of six different waveforms provides for a total average transmitted power of 5000 watts, the highest of any of the WSMR radars. The MOTR is capable of tracking a six-inch sphere to range in excess of 120 km."

The MOTR radar was developed in the 80's and put in service in the 90's. There are only a handful in operation globally today.



It is not known at this time how long a delay will be before the radar is fixed. This could also push back the Cape's launch schedule beyond the NROL-67 and SpaceX CRS-3 launches. This depends on the seriousness of the presumed fire and available spare parts or manufacturing of new parts.

A plan to upgrade the Eastern Range has been in the works for several years.

The Launch and Test Range System (LTRS) Integrated Support Contract (LISC), a 10-year contract that consolidates three contracts currently supporting the Air Force's launch ranges at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California was delayed until no earlier than the second quarter of this year.


Images credit: Courtesy Col. Rob Uemura, U.S. Air Force, presentation at the 15th FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference (2012).

Comments:
Dave Huntsman • 13 hours ago
If any further proof was needed that the Range is America's weak link in space launch, here it is. It also shows that SpaceX having multiple pad complexes at the Cape will still be liable to long downtimes due to Range problems that are out of their control, and which are under control of a government bureaucracy which is not responsive enough to support the commercial marketplace - or even the government one. Long-term, Range responsibility needs to be removed from DOD. Shorter term, entities like SpaceX need to ramp up their capability to launch from places not hamstrung by Range constraints or weaknesses.

John Schindler‏@20committee22 mins
"I can't tell you how awful this is" / RT @BlogsofWar US intel: More indications Russia could invade Ukraine http://goo.gl/pnLPl7

U.S. Defense officials say the numbers of troops far exceeds the amount needed for a training exercise. And the fact that there is no real evidence any large-scale exercises have occurred, and that none of the troops have returned to their bases, is also concerning to U.S. observers.

Some have estimated the troop strength to be at about 30,000 -- Rep. Michael Turner, R-Ohio, though, claimed Thursday that the number could be as high as 80,000. It is believed that an additional 50,000 troops may have flooded the region in the last few days.

These indications are contributing to a growing sense of alarm in Washington.

"I can't tell you how awful this is," said one congressional source who spoke to Fox News on the condition of anonymity.

The latest assessment offers a consensus view of intelligence agencies and the U.S. military. The assessment also takes into account that Putin likely has the desire to create a land bridge into Crimea.

Putin may also believe that if he is to pay a price with the international community in the form of sanctions, he is better off getting everything out of this incursion that he wants, one senior U.S. official told Fox News.

After the briefing, one committee aide said: "Nothing that happened in the briefing calmed the sense of alarm expressed by members yesterday."

"It's remarkable concern," one source said Wednesday. "There are senior people here are more concerned than I have ever seen them."
John Schindler‏@20committee4 mins
By the end of the weekend, Europe's biggest war since 1945 will have begun or Putin will have started to send the troops on the border home.

John Schindler‏@20committee2 mins
Moscow's best army units (elms of 2nd GMRD, 4th GTD + VDV) are camped out on #Ukraine's border: soon it's time to execute or head home.

John Schindler‏@20committee2 mins
Plenty of YT clips now of RU units near the border: they look to be in good order, eqpt well maintained, locked and cocked, & ready to roll.


http://www.voanews.com/content/penta...s/1880734.html
Intelligence sources in Ukraine tell a VOA reporter that Russian forces have established a field hospital in Russia's Bryansk region about 20 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.

Brian Hubbs‏@BrianHubbs1·24 secs
"Intelligence sources in Ukraine tell a VOA reporter that Russian forces have established a field hospital in Russia's Bryansk region"

NATOSource‏@NATOSource27m
Kirby: Pentagon looking at "either adding to or reinforcing existing operations or exercises" #Ukraine #NATO #EUCOM http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/natosource/pentagon-sees-russia-reinforcing-units-on-border-with-ukraine …


Sorin Ionescu‏@sorin8 mins
Draft Letter from Government of #Ukraine http://i.imgur.com/7GwvIBL.jpg . @20committee, what does it say?


John Schindler‏@20committee7 mins
@sorin it's a mob prep order....has this been authenticated?


Sorin Ionescu‏@sorin4m
@20committee A Ukrainian who has lived in Canada for the past 10 years received it at his former address. http://www.reddit.com/r/UkrainianConflict/comments/21goyh/received_a_draft_letter_from_ukrainian_government/ …


John Schindler‏@20committee6 mins
Units massing on #Ukraine border are also "regime preservation" force; Putin won't have them that far from Moscow 4 long without good cause.


John Schindler‏@20committee7 mins
+1 / RT @mhikaric Unsaid, but basically #Russia amassing best, mobile units: those unnecessary for show of strength http://outfront.blogs.cnn.com/2014/03/26/u-s-intel-more-likelihood-russia-will-invade-eastern-ukraine/ …


Free Ukraine‏@Ukrainolution6 mins
@odessum @20committee Nobody here in Kyiv speaks of “if" the Russians invade but “when” the Russians invade. We all accept it as certain.


RT @Galrahn: The #osint assessment most credible IMO says Russia will invade at 4pm GMT, about 13.5 hours from now.

RT @Galrahn: If that #osint analysis is correct, in the next 48 hours we will see the largest amphibious landing since the Falklands.


Gregor Peter ‏@L0gg0l 1m
RUSSIA HAS DEPLOYED ELITE BATTLE READY LAND/AIR DIVISIONS FROM SOUTH OF MOSCOW TOWARDS UKRAINE BORDER NEAR KHARKIV (via @unmaudit)


Gregor Peter ‏@L0gg0l 5m
NATO ON HIGHEST ALERT SINCE 1989 INCLUDING WESTERN EUROPE, U.S DEFENSE SOURCE SAYS (via @unmaudit) #ukraine #russia



Sergei Dorenko urges the Russian secret service to kill Ukrainian politicians



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msch_...&feature=share
Published on Mar 27 , 2014

Known TV presenter Sergei Dorenko speaking talk show on Channel 1
called the Russian security services to carry out operations in Ukraine
and Ukrainian leaders to eliminate , citing the experience of Israel.

Sergei Dorenko
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Dorenko



Russia has just moved NUCLEAR ARMED missiles close by to NATO states

Published on Mar 25, 2014



The United States, Poland, and the three Baltic states have voiced concern over Russia's deployment of nuclear-capable missiles close to the four European Union countries' borders.

US State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed that the US had urged Russia to not take steps that would destabilize the region. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Igor Konashen-kov says the missiles will be deployed in Kaliningrad in the Western Military District. For years, Russia threatened to deploy missiles in response to the United States' plan to install a NATO missile system in Eastern Europe. Moscow says the NATO missiles are a threat to Russian national security. Russian media reports say the newly-deployed missiles can hit NATO targets located in Poland, Lithuania, and even Germany.