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Though the A-4 Skyhawk was by no means outdated by 1962, the US Navy began work on a replacement with better range and heavier payload. The designs submitted would be necessarily heavier than the A-4, but this was not seen as much of a problem, nor was a lack of speed: the Navy was willing to trade subsonic performance for increased range and more bombs. Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV) submitted a design based loosely on its successful F-8 Crusader fighter, which was enough to beat out three other designs, and it was ordered into production as the A-7A Corsair II, named for the successful Chance-Vought fighter of World War II.
Though the A-7 was based on the F-8, the two shared very little other than basic configuration: the A-7 was stubby and wide, and definitely subsonic as intended, though it initially used the same powerplant as the F-111 Aardvark. Turn performance was excellent, if acceleration was indifferent, but the centerpiece of the Corsair II was its integrated bomb delivery system. This included the APQ-116 radar, a heads-up display, traveling map display below the radarscope, and a digital computer. Ease of maintenance was also emphasized. With no problems encountered in flight testing, the A-7A entered fleet service in 1967.
It was immediately committed to fighting in Vietnam. Though A-7s would only see action in the tail end of Operation Rolling Thunder, they were to be used extensively in South Vietnam, due to their accuracy: A-7s were capable of putting ordnance within sixty feet of friendly troops, making it well-liked. The Navy liked the USAF's A-7D variant, and subsequently adopted it, with changes for naval operations, as the A-7E. This was to be the definitive model of the Corsair II, and surviving A-7As and A-7Bs were converted to E standard.
It was a mixed batch of A-7 models that finished the war in Vietnam: A-7Bs were mostly used in the suppression of enemy air defenses (SEAD) Wild Weasel role, and increasingly Corsair IIs were armed with precision weapons such as the AGM-62 Walleye, which proved capable enough to destroy the infamous Thanh Hoa Bridge—albeit temporarily—in 1972. The workhorse A-7 also struck targets in the Hanoi area extensively, making it second only to the B-52 in amount of ordnance dropped on the North Vietnamese capital. Navy A-7s from USS Coral Sea participated in the last combat missions of the Vietnam War, the Mayaguez rescue mission in May 1975. 98 Navy A-7s were shot down during the conflict.
Following the end of the Vietnam War, the A-7 replaced the A-4 in Navy light attack squadrons, standardizing on the A-7E. Aside from minor upgrades, this would remain the type used by Navy units for the duration of the Corsair II’s career. A-7s would go on to participate in every military operation undertaken by the United States in the 1980s—attacks on Lebanon and the invasion of Grenada in 1983, operations against Libya in 1985, during the “Tanker War” in the Persian Gulf in 1987, and finally in the First Gulf War in 1991. In these operations, the A-7 was able to use its pinpoint bombing ability to good use; in Libya and the Persian Gulf, Corsair IIs attacked and sank numerous Libyan and Iranian patrol boats with unguided bombs. It also was the Navy’s Wild Weasel of choice during the 1980s, using the Vietnam-era Shrike before upgrading to the far superior HARM.
In Operation Desert Storm, two A-7 squadrons from John F. Kennedy were used both to attack fixed targets with “iron” bombs and Walleyes in “tank plinking”—knocking out Iraqi tanks with precision weapons. Despite there being less than 30 A-7s in theater, these aircraft were able supplements to the USAF’s A-10s and F-111s.
The First Gulf War was the A-7’s swan song. The last squadrons gave up their Corsair IIs for F/A-18 Hornets by May 1991, ending nearly thirty years of operations. Some ex-Navy A-7s were passed on to Greece, Portugal, and Thailand, and some still remain in service with Thailand and Greece. Of the 1569 A-7s built, about half were Navy types, and today 20 former US Navy A-7s are on display as gate guards and museum pieces.
152681 joined the US Navy sometime in the mid-1960s. Its early career is a bit hazy, but it is known to have served with VA-122 ("Flying Eagles") and VA-125 ("Rough Riders") at NAS Lemoore, California; both VA -122 and VA-125 were Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS), more colloquially known as a Replacement Air Group (RAG). The purpose of the FRS/RAG units is to train pilots for combat deployments and provide replacement aircraft for any losses. It is not known if 152681 saw combat during Vietnam.
As the Navy replaced their earlier A-7As with A-7Es, 152681 was relegated to the Naval Reserve in 1976, and finished its career with VA-203 ("Blue Dolphins") at NAS Jacksonville, Florida. It was probably retired around 1983 and became a ground instruction trainer at NATTC Millington, Tennessee until 1991, when it was declared surplus. It was donated to the Prairie Aviation Museum and went on display later that year.
Entirely by coincidence, it turns out that this aircraft--photographed by a unknown acquiantance of Dad's at Lemoore--would be photographed by me some 45 years later at 152681's current home at the Prairie Aviation Museum. Though here the aircraft wears the somewhat understated colors of VA-122, here it is today: www.flickr.com/photos/31469080@N07/48083789353/in/photoli...
(Disclaimer: I found this picture among other photos in my dad’s slides. I’m not sure who took them; some of them may be his. If any of these pictures are yours or you know who took them, let me know and I will remove them from Flickr, unless I have permission to let them remain. These photos are historical artifacts, in many cases of aircraft long since gone to the scrapyard, so I feel they deserve to be shared to the public at large—to honor the men and women who flew and maintained them.)
Workers load the Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload onto a truck at the Space Station Processing Facility for transfer to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Oct. 3, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. RRM3 demonstrates the transfer of xenon gas and liquid methane in microgravity, and advances technologies for storing and manipulating these cryogenic fuels robotically. RRM3 also supports development of technology for the Restore-L mission, a robotic spacecraft equipped to service satellites in-orbit. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
Kennedy Space Center Associate Director Kelvin Manning, right, speaks with a guest during a ceremony marking NASA's Spacecraft/Payload Integration and Evolution (SPIE) organization formally turning over processing of the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket's Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) to the center's Ground Systems Development and Operations (GSDO) Directorate. The ICPS is the first integrated piece of flight hardware to arrive in preparation for the uncrewed Exploration Mission-1. With the Orion attached, the ICPS sits atop the SLS rocket and will provide the spacecraft with the additional thrust needed to travel tens of thousands of miles beyond the Moon.
Photo credit: NASA/ Bill White
The upper instrumentation payload stack for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) is lifted toward the mission's lower stack in the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that will work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process which occurs throughout the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is targeted for March 12. To learn more about MMS, visit www.nasa.gov/mms. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as a crane is used to lift the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module, enclosed in its payload fairing, for transfer to a KAMAG transporter. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S), secured on a transporter, passes by the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on its way to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload fairing will be lifted and mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. GOES-S is slated to launch aboard the ULA Atlas V on March 1. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft has had the appropriate logos affixed to its transportation canister before its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 configuration vehicle featuring a United Launch Alliance first stage booster powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, strap-on solid rocket motors. Once on station in Earth orbit, SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch from Space Launch Complex 2 is targeted for Jan. 29. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
NASA and industry engineers will drop a 72,000 pound test payload from the back of a U.S. Air Force C-17 aircraft from an altitude of 25,000 feet, tying the record for the heaviest load ever extracted from the aircraft during flight . The payload includes the main parachute for the Ares I rocket. This drop test is designed to push the parachute’s canopy to its limit -- supporting a 250,000-pound dynamic load. Dynamic load weight is generated by the drag and pull of the payload. The primary test objective is to achieve a dynamic pressure of 110 pounds per square foot on the canopy, simulating the conditions the main parachute will experience when it is deployed to slow the rapid descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor. Engineers from NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., manage the team conducting the test.
Image credit: U.S. Army Yuma Proving Grounds
Read more about NASA's Ares Rockets:
p.s. You can see all of the Ares photos in the Ares Group in Flickr at: www.flickr.com/groups/ares/
Technicians with Orbital ATK prepare to install the payload adapter to the deployment module that contains the micro satellites for NASA's Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) in Building 1555 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. CYGNSS is being prepared at Vandenberg, and then will be transported to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard the Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket which will be attached to the Orbital ATK L-1011 carrier aircraft. CYGNSS will launch on the Pegasus XL rocket from the Skid Strip at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. CYGNSS will make frequent and accurate measurements of ocean surface winds throughout the life cycle of tropical storms and hurricanes. The data that CYGNSS provides will enable scientists to probe key air-sea interaction processes that take place near the core of storms, which are rapidly changing and play a critical role in the beginning and intensification of hurricanes.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians monitor the progress as a crane is used to lift the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module, enclosed in its payload fairing, for transfer to a KAMAG transporter. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the mobile service tower at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians are inspecting the NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, satellite. The task is taking place prior to encapsulation in its payload fairing atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket. Launch is scheduled for 2:56 a.m. PDT 5:56 a.m. EDT on July 1. OCO-2 is NASA’s first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate. OCO-2 will provide a new tool for understanding the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions and the natural "sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide and help control its buildup. The observatory will measure the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. To learn more about OCO-2, visit oco.jpl.nasa.gov Photo credit: NASA/Mark Mackley
The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S), secured on a transporter, departs the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. GOES-S will be transported to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload fairing will be lifted and mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. GOES-S is slated to launch aboard the ULA Atlas V on March 1. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
Gioia Massa, at left, a NASA payload scientist, talks to students during a Women in STEM breakfast inside the Debus Conference Center at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. STEM is science, technology, engineering and math. The special event gave students competing in NASA's 8th Annual Robotic Mining Competition the chance to learn from female NASA scientists, engineers and professionals about their careers and the paths they took to working at Kennedy. The Robotic Mining Competition is a NASA Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate project designed to encourage students in STEM fields. The project provides a competitive environment to foster innovative ideas and solutions that could be used on NASA's Journey to Mars. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
John "JC" Carver, a payload integration engineer with NASA Kennedy Space Center's Test and Operations Support Contract, uses a FluorPen to measure the chlorophyll fluorescence of Arabidopsis thaliana plants inside the growth chamber of the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) Flight Unit No. 1. Half the plants were then harvested.
The harvest is part of an ongoing verification test of the APH unit, which is located inside the International Space Station Environmental Simulator in Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility. The APH undergoing testing at Kennedy is identical to one on the station and uses red, green and broad-spectrum white LED lights to grow plants in an environmentally controlled chamber. The seeds grown during the verification test will be grown on the station to help scientists understand how these plants adapt to spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA/Leif Heimbold
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians enclose a transportation canister containing NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft in an environmentally protective wrap for its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 configuration vehicle featuring a United Launch Alliance first stage booster powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, strap-on solid rocket motors. Once on station in Earth orbit, SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch from Space Launch Complex 2 is targeted for Jan. 29. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, technicians check the alignment of NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft, onto a transporter for its move to the launch pad. The spacecraft is being prepared for its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 configuration vehicle featuring a United Launch Alliance first stage booster powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, strap-on solid rocket motors. Once on station in Earth orbit, SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch from Space Launch Complex 2 is targeted for Jan. 29. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft, has been secured inside a transportation canister and secured onto a transporter for its move to the launch pad.
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft, has been secured inside a transportation canister and loaded onto a transporter for its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 configuration vehicle featuring a United Launch Alliance first stage booster powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, strap-on solid rocket motors. Once on station in Earth orbit, SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch from Space Launch Complex 2 is targeted for Jan. 29. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
PictionID:44811663 - Catalog:14_014448 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Filename:14_014448.TIF - - - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
Workers prepare the Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload to be transferred from the Space Station Processing Facility high bay to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Oct. 3, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. RRM3 demonstrates the transfer of xenon gas and liquid methane in microgravity, and advances technologies for storing and manipulating these cryogenic fuels robotically. RRM3 also supports development of technology for the Restore-L mission, a robotic spacecraft equipped to service satellites in-orbit. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
A forklift is being used to lift the Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload out of the Fuel Transfer Building on Oct. 30, 2018, to be transported to the SpaceX facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. RRM3 demonstrates the transfer of xenon gas and liquid methane in microgravity, and advances technologies for storing and manipulating these cryogenic fuels robotically. RRM3 also supports development of technology for the Restore-L mission, a robotic spacecraft equipped to service satellites in-orbit. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston
The upper instrumentation payload stack for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) is secured atop the mission's lower stack in the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that will work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process which occurs throughout the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is targeted for March 12. To learn more about MMS, visit www.nasa.gov/mms. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a powered cargo unit is ready for late stowage in the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station targeted for March 24, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
Workers prepare the Robotic Refueling Mission-3 (RRM3) payload to be transferred from the Space Station Processing Facility high bay to the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Oct. 3, 2018, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The payload will be carried to the International Space Station on SpaceX's 16th Commercial Resupply Services mission. RRM3 demonstrates the transfer of xenon gas and liquid methane in microgravity, and advances technologies for storing and manipulating these cryogenic fuels robotically. RRM3 also supports development of technology for the Restore-L mission, a robotic spacecraft equipped to service satellites in-orbit. Photo credit: NASA/Glenn Benson
Aircraft Office teams prepare the C-130 aircraft for departure at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The aircraft will deliver the agency’s Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory (GUSTO) payload to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The GUSTO mission will launch on a scientific balloon in December 2023.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.
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Workers monitor the upper instrumentation payload stack for the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) as it is lowered toward the mission's lower stack in the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida, near Kennedy Space Center. MMS consists of four identical spacecraft that will work together to provide the first three-dimensional view of magnetic reconnection, a fundamental process which occurs throughout the universe. Launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is targeted for March 12. To learn more about MMS, visit www.nasa.gov/mms. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians assist as a crane is used to lift the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module, enclosed in its payload fairing, for transfer to a KAMAG transporter. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
Secured on a transporter, the payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) departs the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. GOES-S will be transported to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload fairing will be lifted and mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. GOES-S is slated to launch aboard the ULA Atlas V on March 1. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
John "JC" Carver, a payload integration engineer with NASA Kennedy Space Center's Test and Operations Support Contract, places Arabidopsis thaliana plants harvested from the Advanced Plant Habitat (APH) Flight Unit No. 1 into an Ultra-low Freezer chilled to -150 degrees Celsius.
The harvest is part of an ongoing verification test of the APH unit, which is located inside the International Space Station Environmental Simulator in Kennedy's Space Station Processing Facility. The APH undergoing testing at Kennedy is identical to one on the station and uses red, green and broad-spectrum white LED lights to grow plants in an environmentally controlled chamber. The seeds grown during the verification test will be grown on the station to help scientists understand how these plants adapt to spaceflight. Photo credit: NASA/Leif Heimbold
NASA’s Orbiting Carbon Observatory 3, or OCO-3, payload sits in a transportation container at the Space Station Processing Facility high bay at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in preparation for its move to the SpaceX facility on March 18, 2019. The OCO-3 payload will be stowed in the trunk of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, where it will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket on the company’s 17th Commercial Resupply Services mission to the International Space Station. Launch is scheduled for April 25, 2019, from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Once the payload reaches the station, it will be removed from Dragon and robotically installed on the exterior of the orbiting laboratory’s Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility Unit, where it will measure and map carbon dioxide from space to provide further understanding of the relationship between carbon and climate. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
Gulfstream G2 Payload Test flight #2, Nellis AFB, Las Vegas, Sunday March 20, 2011. I was on this flight. Pilot having WAY too much fun during takeoff, doing what I could've sworn was a 45 degree bank and a hard pull up.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, technicians prepare payloads for final cargo installation in the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than March 21, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, or OCO-2, satellite sits atop a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket prior to encapsulation in its payload fairing at Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Launch is scheduled for 2:56 a.m. PDT 5:56 a.m. EDT on July 1. OCO-2 is NASA’s first mission dedicated to studying atmospheric carbon dioxide, the leading human-produced greenhouse gas driving changes in Earth’s climate. OCO-2 will provide a new tool for understanding the human and natural sources of carbon dioxide emissions and the natural "sinks" that absorb carbon dioxide and help control its buildup. The observatory will measure the global geographic distribution of these sources and sinks and study their changes over time. To learn more about OCO-2, visit oco.jpl.nasa.gov Photo credit: NASA/Mark Mackley
A technician inspects the first half of the United Launch Alliance Atlas V payload fairing for NOAA’s GOES-T satellite inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida, on Feb. 7, 2022. The satellite will be secured inside the payload fairing, which will protect it during launch.
GOES-T is scheduled to launch on March 1, 2022, atop the Atlas V 541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
GOES-T is the third satellite in the GOES-R series ― the Western Hemisphere's most advanced weather-observing and environmental monitoring system. Data from GOES-T will help meteorologists see the big picture as well as read the fine print, providing critical real-time information before, during and after severe weather and disasters strike.
The launch is being managed by NASA’s Launch Services Program based at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, America’s multi-user spaceport.
Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – In the Astrotech payload processing facility on Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive, or SMAP, spacecraft, secured inside a transportation canister is lowered onto a transporter for its move to the launch pad. SMAP will launch on a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7320 configuration vehicle featuring a United Launch Alliance first stage booster powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and three Alliant Techsystems, or ATK, strap-on solid rocket motors. Once on station in Earth orbit, SMAP will provide global measurements of soil moisture and its freeze/thaw state. These measurements will be used to enhance understanding of processes that link the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to extend the capabilities of weather and climate prediction models. SMAP data also will be used to quantify net carbon flux in boreal landscapes and to develop improved flood prediction and drought monitoring capabilities. Launch from Space Launch Complex 2 is targeted for Jan. 29. To learn more about SMAP, visit www.nasa.gov/smap. Photo credit: NASA/U.S. Air Force Photo Squadron
One of four Hughes payload specialists, named (along with Greg Jarvis) as prime for a mission that kept slipping. Eventually he was named to STS-61L, a late November 1986 flight.
Jarvis, however, was killed in the Challenger accident that January, and the subsequent removal of most commercial satellites from deployment by shuttle meant Konrad lost his chance to fly.
Konrad was chosen to represent Hughes as a payload specialists on a shuttle flights then-planned for 1985 (STS-51-I/Columbia, sked for August 1985), a Hughes selection committee announced June 14, 1984.
Konrad, who had been with the company for eight years, was a project manager in Division 40’s Systems Engineering Lab.
William Butterworth, assistant program manager of SCG’s Galileo Probe effort, and Stephen Cunningham, manager, Systems Analysis were named alternates for the two flights.
The payload specialists and two alternates were selected from a pool of nearly 600 applicants.
“It was a difficult decision because there were so many excellent candidates,” Robert Roney, SCG vice president and selection committee member, said at that time, in an employee newsletter. “If this first payload specialist program is a success it will be continued on subsequent launches of Hughes communications satellites, offering additional opportunities for employees to fly on future shuttle missions.”
Hughes’ payload specialist program would have marked the first time a commercial customer will participate in the launch of a privately owned satellite. (When Jarvis flew on Challenger, that flight carried no Hughes satellites.)
The payload fairing containing NOAA’s GOES-T satellite, secured on a transporter, arrives at the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The fairing-encapsulated GOES-T spacecraft was mated with the launch vehicle on Feb. 17, 2022.
GOES-T is slated for launch on March 1, 2022.
Photo credit: United Launch Alliance
Enclosed in its payload fairing, NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) arrives at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. GOES-R will be stacked atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V Centaur upper stage. The satellite will launch atop the Atlas V rocket in November. GOES-R is the first satellite in a series of next-generation NOAA GOES Satellites. Photo credit: NASA/Ben Smegelsky
The payload fairing containing NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-S (GOES-S) is secured on a transporter and moved out of the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Titusville, Florida. GOES-S will be transported to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The payload fairing will be lifted and mated to the ULA Atlas V rocket. GOES-S is the second in a series of four advanced geostationary weather satellites. GOES-S is slated to launch aboard the ULA Atlas V on March 1. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White
▪︎LAND ROVER SERIES II FORWARD CONTROL▪︎
The Land Rover Serie II FC (''Forward Control'') is a rather unique truck built on the basis of the legendary Land Rover off-road utility car. The initial IIA had a 2.25-litre petrol engine and LWB 109 inch chassis, with cab positioned over the engine for more load space. Export vehicles had the 2.6-litre petrol engine and ENV (heavy duty) rear axle. They also had larger tyres with deep-dish wheel rims on the rear axle. They remained still underpowered for a 1.5 long ton payload. 2,500 were manufactured from 1962 to 1966 as troop carriers for the British Army, they were superseded in 1974 by the Series IIB with a more powerful 2.25 litre diesel and other upgrades, they were retired in the 1990's.
Demand for better load-carrying capacity for the Land Rover was already a concern in the 1950's, as the regular Series I and IIA were rather cramped as that of the WWII Jeep. At the same time Ford proposed a 6-wheeled Jeep in 1942, which was only adopted in limited numbers for trials. In the British Army, the need was answered in 1962, with the launch of the Series IIA Forward Control (FC) vehicle. This new vehicle was based on the Series II Long Wheelbase (LWB), meaning a 109 inch chassis. The greatest difference was the placement of the cab, now positioned over the engine, thus creating a vehicle somewhat close to a ''cab over engine'' (COE) configuration, already known and used in WWII for its advantages in visibility. But technically it was not for many specialists. There was a true COE made by Rover though, the Leyland 15/20 based on the Standard Atlas.
This indeed resulted in a massively increased load space at the rear. The ''car'' was transformed into a truck. It also had a new rear sub-frame attached to the 109 inch chassis in order to superpose a brand new flat load space, infinitely larger than the original space between seats in the standard Land Rover Series II. The result was capable of carrying 30 cwt (1 ½ tons - long tons) on the road, and 25 cwt (1 ton - long ton) cross-country. All this seems ideal until road trials and off-road trials were performed. While quite valid on road, the FC became a ''dog'' when operating off-road and on muddy, snowy ground. It's power to weight ratio, given the overloaded chassis and new payload, several folds what the standard car can carry, completely overwhelmed the engine, which was basically was stock, shared, as most mechanical components, with the car. Complaints about the Serie IIA FC led to a new version with a beefier engine, the Series IIB.
The IIA Forward Control was not only given a modified chassis, with a new frame to support the flatbed and brand new cabin and radiator. I was also fitted with heavy duty axles and larger tyres to increase the ground clearance, something that was anticipated. Its body style was that of a ''pick-up'', as dimensions were those of a small lorry and due to the proportions of the flatbed compared to the cabin.
Unlike a standard Rover, only seating was located in the cab, open or closed. This new cab was carried on a front sub-frame, bolted onto the chassis. But for Rover, this allowed it to present to the army a design that proved economical and required only a few new parts. It could be produced rapidly with the same personnel at a dedicated new facility, but with the same logistics as the standard Range Rover.
The front and rear sub-frame was also a choice driven by economics, but was later criticized as it resulted in a much heavier vehicle compared to a purpose-built chassis integrating from the start a cab and flatbed like any standard truck. The designation in military nomenclature ''110'' recalled the chassis wheelbase. The Forward Control model indeed had more payload and was accepted for production after the prototype first ran in 1960 and performed a whole range of gruelling trials, made available as a Series IIA FC from September 1960. However many modifications led to a military production from 1962.
The Series IIA Forward Control was given as seen above the 109 inch wheelbase and managed to keep 75% of the standard 109 inch chassis components to stay attractive but this led to a number of compromises to lower the base price. It was only available with the Rover’s four-cylinder petrol engine of 2,286cc (making it under powered) and it was proven unstable, due to the combination of height and standard width axles.
Considering that the Series II's 2,286l petrol engine was retained, the result was a very underpowered vehicle. Tyres were of the 900×16 types on deep-dish wheel rims to spread the ground weight of this heavy vehicle. They were neither of the run-flat type, not fitted with a central inflation system. The 6 Cylinder, 3.063 x 3.625 inch, 2,625cc 7:1 CR was coupled with a S.U. H.D.6 carburettor on the Series IIA. On the Series IIB it was rated for 88.5 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 176 Nm @ 1750 rpm (88 bhp ''gross'', 130 lb/ft albeit LRO Magazine states published that this 6 cylinder engine was detuned to 85.285 bhp @ 4500 rpm, 173 Nm @ 1500 rpm (86 bhp net, 128 lb/ft).
The Series II Forward Control Land Rovers used a different transfer box than standard Land Rovers to compensate for the 9.00 x 16 tyres and the main gearbox ratios were the same, but the gearbox was different, with a longer main shaft used to interface to the Forward Control transfer box of the ''Easy Drive'' type, enabling to change from high to low range while moving. The Series I / Series II had the same main gearbox ratios, albeit Series IIA ratios were different early in production.
The power issue (of lack thereof) was partly addressed in 1966 with the advent of the Series IIB Forward Control. This added the 2,286l diesel engine and 2,6l 6-cylinder petrol engine as options. The 6-cylinder petrol engine was adapted from the Rover P4 and P5 cars and considered far more reliable. And for stability, the wheelbase was slightly lengthened but more importantly, the wheel tracks were widened by four inches. The head lamps were also lowered (externally the only way to tell). The side lights were relocated to a higher position as well.
These vehicles had a turning circle of 49ft for the IIA and 45ft 11in for the IIB, a ground clearance of 10 inches, the height of load bay (unladen) 41 inches. The body width (internal) was 63½ inches) and the body length was 123½ inches). Payload was two in the cabin and 30 cwt on road, 25 cwt off road (with standard 109 being rated for 15 cwt. It should be noted that some Forward Controls were fitted with a hydraulic winch, driven from the power take-off aft of the gearbox and the hydraulic fluid reservoir holds 6½ gallons.
After 2,500 Series IIA were manufactured, the Army wanted a massive improvement, and the transition in production started in 1965. The new Series IIB started production from 1966. For this, Rover engineers completely re-designed the vehicle. The underpowered aspect was solved by the adoption of the six-cylinder petrol engine of 2,625cc. However it was longer (110 inches), so this needed to move the front axle forward of one inch making for an increased wheelbase to 110 inches, hence the new designation.
This Series IIB was introduced in September 1966 and also comprised modifications such as wider and stronger axles to address the stability aspect, and a stronger transmission to cope with the new engine, which had a much greater torque. It also had front anti-roll bar and revised rear springs mounted above the axle rather than below it. The easiest way to distinguish a Series IIA externally was its high headlamps compared to a Series IIB with low headlamps. The other way to tell the 110 from the 101 apart when on their side, is to count the number of nuts holding the wheels on, from five studs to six to match the Howitzer gun that it was designed to tow, and in turn it matches the Unimog 404.
▪︎Series IIA: Original LWB variant with the standard 2.3L engine, produced 1962–66, 3,193*
▪︎Series IIB: Re-powered variant with a 6-cyl, 2.6L and longer wheelbase, produced, 1966–73, 2,303**
▪︎Series FC 101 inch, LWB chassis, for the civilian market, confidential production.
▪︎Llama: Export version, exists in prototype form only, *2-¼ petrol – 2,091 / 2¼ diesel – 5 / 2.6 6cyl petrol – 1,097.
Specifications IIA:
▪︎Length: 193 inches
▪︎Width: 75½ inches
▪︎Height: 88¼ inches
▪︎Wheelbase: 109 inches
▪︎Axles: 53½ inches (track F/R)
▪︎Weight: 1.91 tons (long tons) Kerb Weight, with water, oil, and 5 gallons of fuel
▪︎Crew: 2+12
▪︎Propulsion: Rover 1.6L
▪︎Suspension: Leaf springs
▪︎Speed: 43.49 mph (road)
▪︎Range: 186.4 miles
▪︎Armament: None (personal weapons, crews and infantry)
▪︎Production: 2,500 approximately.
Specifications IIB:
▪︎Length: 193 inches
▪︎Width: 75½ inches
▪︎Height: 88½ inches
▪︎Wheelbase: 109 inches
▪︎Axles: 57½ inches
▪︎Weight: 1.93 tons (long tons)
▪︎Crew: 2+12
▪︎Propulsion: Rover 2.8L
▪︎Suspension: Leaf springs
▪︎Speed: 43.49 mph (road)
▪︎Range: 186.4 miles
▪︎Armament: None (personal weapons, crews and infantry)
▪︎Production: 3,500 approximately.
The compromised IIA and IIB FC were never a success, albeit production was maintained for the British Army until 1974. It was to be replaced by the more sophisticated 101 Forward Control, never sold to the civilian market, only retained by the army. Most IIA's and IIB's were sold as in the 1980's as work trucks on the civilian market, and worked hard, which combined with relatively low production numbers, meant very few survived. Many survivors were conversions, such as camper vans and fire engines which had a relatively less arduous career.
The Series IIA was not popular, young, inexperienced drivers often misjudged the stability underway and this never ended well. The full payload, combined with harsh terrain meant the trucks often broke down, as a combined result of a relatively unreliable engine, which was completely overstrained in this new condition. The attrition rate was such in the 1960's a solution was asked to Rover. One solution was to better train drivers, the other to just lower the payload. The most practical was to use the vehicle as troop carriers, carrying twelve men each with their own equipment (plus the driver and co-driver). A standard Land Rover could only carry six. Even after the introduction of the IIB, the army continued to use these as troop carriers. Some took part in the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) deployments of the cold war in the 1970-80's, until replacement.
There are private collectors that parade them today, notably yearly in Land Rover gatherings across UK and abroad. They always surprises the general public, oblivious a truck was derived from the car they know so well. However, production figures are hard to come by. The number generally accepted is 2,500 for the Series IIA, and around 3,000 to 3,500 for the IIB. This was not considerable compared to more standard military trucks in service at the time.
Information sourced from – truck-encyclopedia.com/coldwar/UK/land-rover-series-II-FC...
PictionID:44809007 - Catalog:14_014230 - Title:Atlas Payload Component - Filename:14_014230.TIF - - Image from the Convair/General Dynamics Astronautics Atlas Negative Collection. The processing, cataloging and digitization of these images has been made possible by a generous National Historical Publications and Records grant from the National Archives and Records Administration---Please Tag these images so that the information can be permanently stored with the digital file.---Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum
I was surprised to see this signed photo of Dennis F. Boesen - the only unflown astronaut so far seen belonging to the van Buskirk collection.
According to Kenneth P. Bechis, another Starlab payload specialist, "SDI-related acquisition, tracking, and pointing technology are scheduled to be demonstrated in 1991 by Spacelab's 'Starlab' mission, using various onboard sensors, lasers, and ground-launched missiles with target boards and other diagnostics.
"Also undertaken will be experiments concerning the measurement and correction of optical aberrations and atmospheric effects on laser propagation; the possibility of submarine laser communications from space will be also be evaluated.
"Starlab's UV Camera Assembly will obtain passive rocket plume imagery, as well as background measurements that will examine the radiant intensities and the spectral and temporal variabilities of the earth limb."
The mission was to have lasted seven days, and pushed back, according to published sources to May 1992, the STS-50 Spacelab slot (flown with a different Spacelab.)
Air Force Program 513, first known as "SDI Starlab", was conceived in 1985. Around that time, a workforce of about one-hundred people at Kaman Aerospace in Colorado Springs began working on the Wavefront Control Experiment under a $ 40 million contract. Peak employment for the project probably lay around 1987, when Kaman opened an Electro-Optics Development Center in Tucson, Arizona, to support the program. By that time, the project was known as "Starlab".
SWAT-activities at the AMOS site began in 1986 as well, when MIT Lincoln Labs started building "a large frame dye laser to characterize the atmospheric effects on laser beam propagation."
The mission first appeared on the Space Shuttle Manifest of March 1, 1986. Listed as mission STS-72A, with a launch date of January 1988, the "SDI Spacelab" was to be launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, using a polar orbit. With Shuttle operations halted by the Challenger accident, the mission (now STS-34) slipped to June 1989 and then March 1990 (STS-38).
Since the Vandenberg launch capability was lost as a result of the Challenger accident, the polar orbit was changed to a 33.4 degree inclination flight, launched from the Kennedy Space Center. Flight support was moved to Cape Canaveral in September 1987. With completion of the Starbird launch site not expected before December 1989, the Starlab mission was rescheduled to fly on STS-41 in early 1988, with a launch date of June 1990 and later September 1990.
However, the Starlab mission was moved back further: on the January 1989 Launch Manifest, it was planned for the November 1990/STS-42 Spacelab slot. In June, this was taken up by the IML-1 Spacelab mission and Starlab was rescheduled for STS-48, with a launch in August 1991. It was next moved to STS-49, with a launch date of September 1991. In March 1990, with other Air Force Projects such as the Teal Ruby-satellite already canceled, launch was moved further back to January 1992.
In August 1990, the mission was scheduled for May 1992 (STS-50). In late September, Starlab was cancelled altogether to protect funding for the Briliant Pebbles system. The Spacelab slot was taken by the United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML)-1. On September 1, 1990, the four payload specialists associated with the mission resigned from the program.
The Starlab mission would have been flown by a crew of seven astronauts. Four military Payload Specialists were assigned to the Starlab project in July 1987. They were: Craig A. Puz, Maureen C. LaComb, Dennis L. Boesen and Kenneth P. Bechis.
Puz and LaComb, both US Air Force captains, were selected as the primary Payload Specialists, Boesen and Bechis - more scientifically oriented - acted as their back ups.
Puz and LaComb were injured in a car crash in Boston in June 1988. One year later, Puz was medically disqualified and he was replaced by Boesen. The five NASA crewmembers had not yet been assigned to the mission when it was canceled in September 1990, but would probably have been commanded by Dan Brandenstein, John Creighton, Loren Shriver or Dick Richards.
After eight months of designing, building and testing, the middle school, high school and college and university teams launched their rockets as part of NASA Student Launch on Sunday, April 8. The rockets and their payloads are designed to fly to 1-mile in altitude before deploying recovery systems that brings them safely to the ground.
Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are underway for final cargo installation in the Orbital ATK Cygnus pressurized cargo module. The Orbital ATK CRS-7 commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station is scheduled to launch atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station no earlier than March 21, 2017. Cygnus will deliver 7,600 pounds of supplies, equipment and scientific research materials to the space station. Photo credit: NASA/Bill White