Northrop Grumman – Page 20

Engineers say goodbye to society-changing Delta 2 rocket

September 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

When the first Delta 2 rocket took off on Valentine’s Day 1989, ideas like navigating by smartphone and driving robots on Mars were science fiction. More than 150 launches over the last 30 years helped change all that.

Live coverage: Final Delta 2 rocket launches from California

September 14, 2018 Stephen Clark

The final flight of a Delta 2 rocket, a mainstay of the U.S. launch industry for nearly 30 years, began at 6:02 a.m. PDT (9:02 a.m. EDT; 1302 GMT) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California with NASA’s ICESat 2 Earth science satellite.

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.

Air Force releases new target dates for upcoming military launches

September 7, 2018 Stephen Clark

Managers have pushed back the next flight of United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4-Heavy rocket from a launch pad in California until no sooner than early December, and the first launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy for the U.S. Air Force has likely been delayed to some time early next year, officials said this week.

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.