Delta II rocket takes final launch, launches NASA Ice Measurement Mission, Saturday from Vandenberg Air Base | Local news

Shawn Daly, an integration engineer from NASA CubeSat and Rex Englehart, a NASA CubeSat mission leader, led the presentation, which included background information on NASA and details on ICESAT-2's mission. l & # 39; agency. Launch of the Delta II rocket early Saturday.

The launch, scheduled for a 40-minute period starting at 5:46 am, will not only be the final of the feature-length Delta, which has launched 238 NASA missions since 1960, but which will also carry most of NASA's satellites. Advanced space lasers never. The agency plans to use the ICESat-2 lasers – ICESat stands for Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite – to measure changes on the Earth's ice and provide a detailed analysis of the effects of global climate change.

While NASA's mission is incredibly important to the scientific community, speakers at Lompoc's Thursday presentation focused on several aspects of the launch, including the four CubeSat satellites, which will also be launched as part of the mission. . , and the meaning and reasons for the end of the Delta program.

"Everyone is talking about SpaceX now and their innovation and that sort of thing, but I have to tell you that Delta II, in general, is that – it's the old school version", has said Daly. "They had the most launches, they were the workaholic, they were the things that could get you up into space and make sure you were there and that it was done properly. But they also evolved regularly. "

Later in the presentation, Daly was asked why the Delta program was ending. He replied that it was essentially profitability and that commercial rocket companies were finding ways to cut costs, ultimately eliminating the Delta series.

Engineers also focused on some of the details of the ICESat-2 mission, which will mark for the first time in almost a decade NASA's ability, from space, to measure the elevation of ice surface over any the planet. The first ICESat mission took place from 2003 to 2009.

ICESat-2, according to NASA, will carry a single instrument, the advanced laser altimetry system ATLAS, which will send 10,000 laser pulses per second to the Earth's surface and measure the height of ice caps, glaciers, ice and ice. the vegetation. calculate the time it takes for the impulses to return to the spacecraft.

NASA reports that lasers will be able to measure the amount of sea ice floating above the surface of the ocean and will have the ability to measure annual changes to 2 millimeters or the width of a pencil.

According to the agency, the information collected by the satellite will allow researchers to track the evolution of land and sea ice, which will help scientists understand the causes of these changes.

The mission is expected to last three years but will have enough fuel to last for 10 years, if mission leaders decide to extend it.

Thursday's presentation was part of a partnership between NASA and Explore Lompoc, which promotes tourism in the Lompoc Valley. Other events include an interactive presentation and a discussion on the mission later Thursday night at the Dick DeWees Community Center and Seniors.

Pre-launch events scheduled for Friday include:

• Coffee with a Scientist, an informal meeting with scientists from ICESat-2, scheduled from 8:00 to 10:30 at the Marriott Santa Ynez Valley in Buellton;
• The ICESat-2 treasure hunt / workstations and conversation with a science event, scheduled from 2 pm to 4:30 pm, also at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott in Buellton; and
• A "Beautiful Earth Program" that will include live music and a multimedia experience under the stars from 7pm to 9pm. at the Solvang festival theater in Solvang.

The ICESat-2 launch teams successfully completed launch-readiness exams on Thursday, and 30 Wing officials are expecting a 100% chance of a favorable time during the scheduled launch window.

The Saturday morning launch will be broadcast live online on nasa.gov.