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The Rocket Garden at the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex becomes a new member: United Launch Alliance's Delta II rocket.
After the launch of the latest Delta II rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on Saturday morning, ULA President and CEO Tory Bruno made a surprise announcement. There is another Delta II, which goes to Cape Canaveral.
"The Delta II rocket has been a venerable workhorse for NASA scientists and civilians, the US military and commercial customers during its nearly 30 years of service," Bruno said in a press release. "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. "
A Delta II rocket orbited the NASA ice, cloud and land elevation satellite, or ICESat-2, at about 6 am Pacific time. The satellite will circle the Earth using a laser to measure the height of the ice on Earth. The measurements will allow scientists to determine the extent of ice over water bodies – and its melting.
The 153rd successful launch of Delta II on 155 marks the end of a program that began on Valentine's Day in 1989, when it launched into orbit a navigation satellite that laid the foundation for GPS systems. today. Since then, three versions of Delta II have sent several notable payloads in space, both from the east and west coasts.
Among them: Mars Pathfinder, Mars, Spirit and Opportunity, the Kepler Space Observatory and the Spitzer Space Telescope.
Delta II was last launched from Cape Canaveral in September 2011 with probes to measure the moon's gravity field.
Now, the teal and the white rocket will come back, joining the other residents of Rocket Garden. Only the Saturn 1B, which is displayed on its side, will be larger than the 132-foot-high Delta II.
"The Delta II will live among these giants," said Jennifer Mayo, director of exhibitions and artifacts at the Visitor Complex in a video on Twitter. "We will take care of this precious treasure for generations to come."
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