Wednesday morning at 0729 UTC, or 3:29 AM ET, the 2nd to the last Delta IV is
scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, SLC-37B.
The final launch of a Delta IV is expected to launch NET January 2024
from the same pad. In commemoration of the penultimate mission, someone
provided this art deco-reminiscent poster for the mission, a launch for the
National Reconnaissance Office payload NROL68.
ULA has produced a video to assist in visualizing the mission. Mission coverage should be here at 0709 UTC.
The Delta family, of course, is among the first orbital rocket systems developed in the US in the aftermath of the country being stunned by the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik in 1957. The Delta, in turn, drew on the design of one the first ballistic missiles, the U.S. Air Force’s intermediate-range ballistic missile called Thor. It was designed and operated for decades by Boeing. Delta's first successful launch was NASA’s Echo 1A satellite on Aug. 12, 1960.
It's probably hard for people under 50 to understand how much those early days changed our lives. Suddenly, there were weather satellites like TIROS and GEOS beaming down pictures of things only some people could visualize. Then there were communications satellites, the first Telstar (which inspired its own top 40 hit) and Intelsat launches, and suddenly TV pictures would include the phrase, “Live, via satellite!”
Over the following decades, the family was continually given more capacity to orbit, culminating in the current Delta IV family of medium-to-heavy launch vehicles which became operational in 2002. The Delta IV Heavy consists of 3 core boosters. The hydrogen-fueled rocket produces 2.1 million lbs of thrust at liftoff, which can launch up to 62,540 lbs to low Earth orbit.
There appears to be no talk of a successor Delta V (or 5) meaning all future heavy lift missions that ULA will carry will need to be a Vulcan Centaur.
Ya gotta love the NRO. The mission banner for this one looks like this:
Epic imagery with the dragon and (what I think is) a glowing dragon's egg. The latin phrase nusquam celare translates as nowhere to hide.
Very important in its time. I'm glad we're moving forward.
ReplyDeleteHaving had glancing contact with the Corona Project, I'm curious about what they're launching lately. But not too curious.
ReplyDeleteThat's good, because they'd have to kill ya if you knew!
Delete;P
The launches are magnificent to watch, from the hydrogen burnoff to the three-plumed exhaust from the booster(s).
ReplyDeleteWe'll miss ya, Delta!