Delta – Page 3 – Spaceflight Now

Scientists eager to renew global ice measurements with ICESat 2 mission

September 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

The satellite awaiting launch early Saturday from California aboard the final flight of the venerable Delta 2 rocket should allow scientists to more precisely track changes in our planet’s ice sheets, using six green laser beams to chart the height and slope of polar ice and glaciers, providing a key input into climate change research.

Installation of ice-measuring satellite caps assembly of last Delta 2 rocket

August 28, 2018 Stephen Clark

NASA’s ICESat 2 satellite has been bolted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as ground teams prepare for the final liftoff of the workhorse launcher Sept. 15.

Photos: More up-close shots of Parker Solar Probe’s launch

August 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

These images from United Launch Alliance and NASA photographers recorded the liftoff of a Delta 4-Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral on Aug. 12 with NASA’s Parker Solar Probe.

Rocketcam replay of Delta 4-Heavy rocket’s launch with solar probe

August 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

This video released by United Launch Alliance shows the Delta 4-Heavy rocket’s predawn liftoff Aug. 12 from the perspective of a downward-facing camera, capturing dazzling views of the fiery takeoff and the dramatic separation of the launcher’s two hydrogen-fueled boosters.

First milestones accomplished on NASA’s newly-launched Parker Solar Probe

August 19, 2018 Stephen Clark

Space missions dispatched into the solar system often have journeys lasting years before reaching a scientific payoff, but NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launched last weekend on a speedy departure from planet Earth is already getting ready to sweep closer to the sun than any spacecraft in history during a flyby later this year.

Photos: Final Delta 2 rocket assembled for launch in California

August 16, 2018 Stephen Clark

The step-by-step stacking of United Launch Alliance’s final Delta 2 rocket was completed in June at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for liftoff Sept. 15 with an Earth science satellite for NASA.

Tanking test marks resumption of Delta 2 rocket’s final launch campaign

August 16, 2018 Stephen Clark

A team of United Launch Alliance and NASA engineers worked through Delta 2 launch day fueling procedures during a simulated countdown Wednesday for what should be the second-to-last time before the venerable rocket’s final liftoff next month from California’s Central Coast.

Video replay: Parker Solar Probe launches atop Delta 4-Heavy

August 15, 2018 Spaceflight Now

Watch a video replay of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe lifting off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s Launch Complex 37 atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy on August 12, 2018.

Photos: Delta 4-Heavy takes off from Cape Canaveral

August 13, 2018 Stephen Clark

Driven by three RS-68A main engines, a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket lifted off early Sunday from Cape Canaveral carrying NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on a historic mission to study the sun.

NASA launches Parker Solar Probe on historic mission

August 12, 2018 William Harwood

Running a day late, a United Launch Alliance heavy-lift Delta 4 rocket thundered away from Cape Canaveral early Sunday, boosting NASA’s $1.5 billion Parker Solar Probe into space on a daring seven-year mission to “touch the sun” with repeated trips through the star’s blazing outer atmosphere.