[ad_1]
A Delta II rocket exploded in the history books while carrying an Earth Observation satellite and a Cal Poly CubeSat in the Vandenberg airbase space early Saturday morning.
The United Launch Alliance booster, measuring some 80 meters high, took off at 6:02 am from Space Launch Complex-2 with a deep roar heard from Santa Maria as the sea layer spoiled the views of the flight.
The takeoff occurred a little later than initially planned to give the team time to evaluate a questionable temperature reading involving the second stage of the rocket. Previously, the team had experienced delays in retracting the mobile service tower from its rocket shelter.
The Delta rocket transported Ice, Cloud and NASA's Elevation Satellite-2 satellite, or ICESat-2, on a $ 1 billion mission to measure the thickness of the Earth's polar ice caps.
For experienced members of the launch team, Saturday's explosions sparked mixed feelings.
"I am a bit sad. I am delighted with the success of the mission in that we were able to close the chapter on Delta II with a huge success of an incredibly important scientific payload, "said Tim Dunn, NASA's launch manager. "ICESat-2 will conduct a state-of-the-art scientific data collection.
"The precision measurements that we will be doing in space will be incredible, so to be able to say that we launched this very important scientific mission during the final flight of the workaholic of the industry is only a huge accomplishment for the whole team, "Dunn added. .
The satellite separation took place approximately one hour after the departure of the Delta II rocket. Shortly after, the rocket launched four small satellites, or CubeSats, built by students.
One of the CubeSats, called Damping And Vibration Experiment or DAVE, was built by Cal Poly students, according to a press release from the university.
The 3-pound satellite, which is about the size of a softball, is studying "the behavior of particle dampers in microgravity conditions," said the university. "Particle dampers could potentially serve as a robust and simple device for eliminating jitter in orbital assemblies or other sensitive scientific equipment."
The students conducted experiments with the CubeSat "in a vacuum and zero gravity, but never at the same time – which can only be done in the space," said the university.
NASA officials said the satellite's main instrument would pulse its laser to Earth 10,000 times per second and accurately measure the time it takes the beams to bounce off the ground and return to ICESat-2 to determine the elevation below.
"Although the launch has been incredibly exciting today, for us scientists, the most anticipated part of the mission begins when we turn on the laser and get our first data," says Thorsten Markus, scientist of the project ICESat- 2 at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
"We look forward to making this data available to the scientific community as quickly as possible so that we can begin to explore what ICESat-2 can tell us about our complex planet," added Markus.
It was the 155th Delta II rocket to launch from California and Florida, with 45 of those flying from Vandenberg for various NASA, international, commercial and government missions.
A large sticker on the side of the launch pad spanned the role of workers for Delta II missions over the years saying, "Dedicated to all employees, suppliers, customers and AF Range personnel who have designed, built and launched the Delta II between 1989 and today. "
After the separation of the satellite, ULA's Tory Bruno announced that an unsold Delta II rocket would join the "Rocket Garden" at the Kennedy Space Center tourist complex in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
"The Delta II rocket has been a venerable workhorse for NASA and civilian scientists, the US military and commercial customers during its nearly 30 years of service," said Bruno, president and CEO of ULA . "This program ends with the final launch of NASA's ICESat-2 system, but its legacy will continue and the Visitor Complex will help us keep the story of the success of this much revered rocket in the heart." and the spirit of the public. "
[ad_2]
Source link
