Solar Probe Plus (Parker Solar Probe) – Delta IV H/Star-48BV – Canaveral SLC-37B – 12.08.2018 в 07:31 UTC

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ULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 2 ч. назад

The #DeltaIV Parker #SolarProbe countdown is in a planned hold, which we are extending by 20 minutes to allow additional time to work some technical issues. Still on track for 3:33amEDT liftoff.

1 ч. назад

We are coordinating a new launch time of 3:53amEDT for the #DeltaIV Parker #SolarProbe

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08/11/2018 06:24 Launch reset for 3:53 a.m. EDT (0753 GMT) Stephen Clark

The countdown has resumed following a built-in hold at T-minus 4 hours, 15 minutes, and the Delta 4 launch team is on station inside the Delta Operations Center a couple of miles from the Complex 37B launch pad.

ULA's launch team is now targeting liftoff at 3:53 a.m. EDT (0753 GMT) after using an extra 20 minutes in the built-in hold to resolve an unspecified technical issue.

Coming up in the next hour, the launch team will kick off steps to fill the Delta 4-Heavy's three first stage Common Booster Cores and second stage with a mixture of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.

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ULA‏Подлинная учетная запись @ulalaunch 1 ч. назад

Readiness poll to begin cryogenic fueling is complete, and fueling operations will get underway shortly. We are now targeting a launch time of 3:53amEDT.
#DeltaIV #SolarProbe http://bit.ly/div_solarprobe 

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Ken Kremer‏ @ken_kremer 1 мин. назад

Pastel Sunset on eve of historic launch of #ParkerSolarProbe to #TouchtheSun - launching Aug 11 333 AM ET on #DeltaIVHeavy by @ulalaunch @torybruno from #pad37 for @NASA. Credit: @ken_kremer http://spaceupclose.com 

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William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 1 ч. назад

D4H/Parker: ULA reports "we were working some technical issues. Most are cleared. Fueling is underway!"

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Jonathan McDowell‏Подлинная учетная запись @planet4589 3 мин. назад

To recap the mission profile: The three CBC core stages of the Delta 4 Heavy will fly suborbital trajectories. The Delta second stage will enter parking orbit. Then...

52 c. назад

... Stage 2 will fire again to reach escape velocity, and end up in an solar orbit that I estimate around 0.37 x 1.0 AU. Stage 3 will then fire to add even more speed, and it and the PSP will end up in a 0.21 x 1.0 AU orbit.

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08/11/2018 08:06 Stephen Clark

Super-cold liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants are now being pumped aboard the Delta 4-Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral.

About 465,000 gallons of cryogenic propellants will be loaded into the launcher during the countdown, starting with 330,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen for the Delta 4-Heavy's three Common Booster Cores.

Another 120,000 gallons of liquid oxygen is also flowing into the Common Booster Cores. An Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engine at the base of each booster will consume the hydrogen/oxygen propellant mixture in flight.

The liquid hydrogen is stored at minus 423 degrees Fahrenheit, while the liquid oxygen is chilled to minus 298 degrees Fahrenheit. Both fluids will be replenished in the rocket's tanks throughout the countdown to replace the cryogenics as they boil off in the warm ambient atmosphere on Florida's Space Coast.

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08/11/2018 08:18 Spaceflight Now

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08/11/2018 08:24 Stephen Clark

There's now a 90 percent chance of weather violating one of the Delta 4's launch commit criteria during this morning's launch window.

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https://www.ulalaunch.com/missions/delta-iv-parker-solar-probe

0532 UTC (1:32 a.m. EDT)

This is Delta Launch Control at T-minus 2 hour and counting. We have finished the "fast-fill" loading mode for the three common booster core liquid hydrogen tanks, and the post-fueling checks and valve tests are underway before topping commences.

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0539 UTC (1:39 a.m. EDT)

Liquid oxygen loading to the three common booster cores has finished. Topping will be completed shortly.

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0629 UTC (2:29 a.m. EDT)

Loading of the upper stage liquid oxygen tank was just reported complete, giving us a 1.6-million-pound Delta IV Heavy rocket that is fueled for launch at 3:53 a.m. EDT (0753 UTC) today. At T-minus 1 hour, 3 minutes and counting, this is Delta Launch Control.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 4 мин. назад

Fueling complete! Topping in work. "We have a fully loaded vehicle".
#ParkerSolarProbe #NASA #DeltaIVHeavy @ulalaunch

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08/11/2018 09:37 Stephen Clark

Here are some statistics on today's mission:

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• 380th Delta rocket launch since 1960
• 37th Delta 4 rocket mission since 2002
• 10th Delta 4-Heavy configuration to fly
• 55th, 56th and 57th main engine from RS-68 family launched
• 13th, 14th and 15th RS-68A main engine flown
• 30th Delta 4 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral
• 8th Delta 4-Heavy launch from Cape Canaveral
• 2nd Delta 4-Heavy for NASA
• 129th United Launch Alliance mission since the company's formation in 2006
• 6th ULA launch this year
• 2nd launch of the Delta family in 2018
  

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William Harwood‏ @cbs_spacenews 2 мин. назад

D4H/Parker: Now 1 hour 15 minutes to launch (at 3:53am EDT); propellant loading is complete; no known technical issues

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0643 UTC (2:43 a.m. EDT)

The standard post-fueling inspections of the rocket's outer thermal insulation is underway using launch pad cameras.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 4 мин. назад

ULA teams have completed functional testing of the Delta IV Heavy pad's swing arms (that, among other things, allow for the rocket stages to be fueled. No issues with the swing arms reported!
#ParkerSolarProbe #NASA #DeltaIVHeavy @ulalaunch

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 56 с. назад

Flight Hazard Area is CLEAR! (We like clear.)
#ParkerSolarProbe #NASA #DeltaIVHeavy @ulalaunch

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0648 UTC (2:48 a.m. EDT)

This launch uses a special three-stage configuration of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket to launch Parker Solar Probe from the Earth.

Спойлер

This configuration of the Delta IV is created by taking three hydrogen-fueled common booster cores, each with an Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-68A main engine, and strapping them together to provide over two million pounds of Earth-shaking thrust at liftoff. The Delta Cryogenic Second Stage, powered by an Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10B-2 engine, puts the vehicle into a preliminary orbit, then fires a second time to achieve an Earth-escape trajectory. A Star 48BV third stage, built by Northrop Grumman, provides a significant kick of additional velocity for the Parker Solar Probe on its journey into the inner solar system.

The Delta IV Heavy launches on the combined power of three RS-68A engines, burning liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to produce 702,000 pounds of thrust each. The port and starboard boosters are more than 150 feet tall, and the center core with the interstage attached is over 175 feet in length. They measure 16.7 feet in diameter.

The Delta Cryogenic Second Stage also burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to produce 24,750 pounds of thrust from the RL10B-2 engine. The powerplant features a deployable carbon-carbon nozzle that is 7 feet in diameter.

The Star 48BV motor serves as the Delta IV Heavy's third stage. It is the latest evolution in the long line of Star 48 stages and incorporates a vectorable nozzle for added maneuverability.

The Delta IV Heavy has successfully flown into space 9 times before, deploying vital national security payloads for the U.S. Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office and sending NASA's Orion capsule on its first flight test.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 29 сек. назад

ULA is now powering up the @northropgrumman STAR 48-VB solid propellant 3rd stage and preparing to align that stage's Inertial Measurement Units.
#ParkerSolarProbe #NASA #DeltaIVHeavy @ulalaunch