Centennial of Central Coast Remembers Role in NASA Delta Rocket Program

LOMPOC, Calif – The Vandenberg Air Base is being called at the end of an era with the final launch of the Delta II rocket scheduled for next Saturday.

The Delta II has been a workaholic for NASA and its United Launch Alliance partners since its initial launch in 1989.

The Delta II rocket has been used over the years to launch GPS, military and weather satellites, as well as for Mars Rover missions, commercial communications and terrestrial imagery satellites.

The planned final launch of the Delta II on Saturday at Vandenberg AFB is a special moment for those who have designed and built Delta rockets over the years, including 100-year-old Edward Monteath of Paso Robles, who was part of the team. original that contributed to the development of Delta Rocket. program for NASA.

"We were asked to do things that no one had ever done before, we did not realize it was important," recalls Monteath of his early years working with Rocketdyne, an entrepreneur. from NASA. I went to work and I did it. How did we do it? I guess we just worked hard and thought about it. I became a rocket scientist, I did not think I was going to do it. "

Edward Monteath is a veteran WWII pilot who flew F6F combat missions in the Pacific.

Monteath then worked with the original team of NASA astronauts in the historical space missions Mercury and Apollo.

Monteath hopes that NASA and the United States will continue to push the boundaries of space exploration and space launch opportunities.

"I'm sure there are people at NASA and in the Air Force looking to the future and other things to do." From my experience, I am not sure Could never have imagined what I wanted to do, "Monteath said. , develop an engine and I did not know that we would end up going on the moon, the space shuttle and all that stuff, I'm sure people are working on it today and with the same attitude coming in the future and plan something, I do not know what it is, put our heads together and continue, there is still a lot to do in the space. "

The final scheduled launch Saturday of the Delta II rocket will carry a payload of sophisticated satellites for terrestrial imagery.

Here is a part of the last press release on the final launch of Delta United Launch Alliance:

A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta II rocket is being prepared for the launch of Space Launch Complex-2's Ice, Cloud and Satellite Elevation-2 (ICESat-2) spacecraft on the 15th September."

"It's the end of an era, as we prepare to launch the Delta II final rocket," said Gary Wentz, ULA Vice President of Government and Business Programs. military satellites and commercial customers. "

"ICESat-2, with its unique instrument, the Advanced Laser Altimetry System (ATLAS), will provide scientists with height measurements to create an overall picture of the Earth's third dimension, gathering data to accurately track changes in Northrop Grumman ground has built the spacecraft In addition to ICESat-2, this mission includes four CubeSats that will be launched from second-stage Delta II dispensers. "