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Author Topic: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.  (Read 25485 times)

Offline Satanic Mechanic

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Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« on: January 19, 2011, 11:57:33 AM »
Launch from Vandenberg of NROL-49 at 13:08 PST.  I don't know if there are any live feeds to watch the launch but I will look.

SM
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Offline DonPMitchell

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #1 on: January 21, 2011, 12:20:49 AM »
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/41180679#41180679

First west-coast launch of the Delta-iV Heavy.
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Offline Satanic Mechanic

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2011, 11:39:36 AM »
Great launch.  Here are some launch pics: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/01/live-delta-iv-heavy-launch-nro-l-49/

I missed it live since I had to take the wife for a root canal.  They should have given me the nitrous since I had to endure two hours of "Easy Listening" music in the lobby. :lol:


SM
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Offline DonPMitchell

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2011, 07:58:38 PM »
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12249645

For some reason, this launch has really gone viral on all the news pages.
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Offline evancise

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2011, 05:19:36 PM »
This doesn't seem to have been turned into a big deal, but I'm really curious...

Pre-launch the boosters are all orange - I assume it's insulation.  During liftoff and early ascent it's very clear in the imagery that this material caught fire and charred/burned its way up the boosters.  Any idea what happened, if it's normal, or if it's a big deal?  I'm guessing it's not supposed to do that, but haven't seen anything about it.

Thanks.

Images showing what I'm talking about:
http://www.spaceflightnow.com/delta/d352/launch/
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Offline LunarOrbit

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2011, 10:59:21 PM »
Wow... that does seem unusual. Isn't the trench under the launchpad supposed to prevent things like that?
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Offline Satanic Mechanic

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #6 on: January 24, 2011, 11:37:22 AM »
Wow!  I did see some pictures of the black smoke during the launch, but I did not see the insulation burning.  That is definitely not normal.  I remember Spacecat's pictures of the Cape launches and this did not occur.
Lunarorbit is correct about the trench question.  I don't believe they use a water suppression system like the shuttle.  This was the biggest vehicle ever launched on the west coast.

SM
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Offline Satanic Mechanic

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #7 on: January 24, 2011, 07:21:26 PM »
Looks like I am wrong.  Here are some past Cape daytime pics of the Delta-IV Heavy: http://www.ktb.net/~billmeco/delta4H.html
It happened before.  On the forum on NASAspaceflight.com, there was a questions about a certain fireball that appeared.

SM
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Offline evancise

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #8 on: January 24, 2011, 10:41:44 PM »
Thanks, SM.  What an interesting ("freaky?") thing to have be a normal part of the liftoff sequence.

"Oh my, it's on fire!"
"Yup, that's normal - it's supposed to burn up the sides like that."
"Umm....ok..."

I hear they're thinking of man-rating the Delta IV Heavy.  Don't know if I'd be excited about seeing that "normal" fireball scroll up past my windows...
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Offline DonPMitchell

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #9 on: January 27, 2011, 01:05:29 AM »
I've noticed this before (the Delta IV heavy is one of my favorite rockets).  Charring the paint probably only represents a harmless few seconds of flame.   It doesn't take a very high temperature to do that.

I have another question though, why did we build a luanch site in California?  Is this because polar orbiting satellites have to be launch with an azimuth that goes west, over the ocean?  I'm assuming they never want to launch a big rocket over the territory of the US.
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Offline evancise

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Re: Delta-IV Launch- West Coast January 20th.
« Reply #10 on: January 27, 2011, 07:44:28 AM »
My understanding is it's so they can launch south into a polar orbit and go directly/solely over water.

Plus they modified/retrofitted the unused shuttle pad at Vandenburg (SLC-6) instead of building a new launch complex.  So it was a "recycling" project.  :)
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