1st Delta IV Heavy From VAFB

MarkII said:

Oh...my...god...what a sight! :clap::clap::clap: I watched the video that Greg posted and just had to stand up and cheer! Oh you beautiful thing!

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Yeah, but... it kinda looks like a flying middle finger. :blush:

Nice launch! Glad to hear all went well.

I watched the video from the Drudge link. from KCAL 9 CBS LA. The reporteret, Amy Johnson is an dolt! she said the rocket reached mach 1, 17500mph in just 80 sec! How do these people get on the air?

Sorry for the rant, but this is basic stuff here.

GregGleason said:

Video replay:

https://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/01/20/rocket.launch/?hpt=T2

[YOUTUBE]5-Z5yTVlLPU[/YOUTUBE]

Greg

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Jeez Greg, what did you guys put in this thing? My computer INSTANTLY re-booted when I clicked the YouTube link. Seriously it did, I haven't seen it do that before! Time start backing up files. :LOL:

(Sorry, I just finished this book https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PU7WJ6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 )

Did anyone else notice how the nice "paint" job got a little scorched at liftoff?

I wonder if that is purposeful change (an ablative technique) or happens because "things get toasted when heated".

Greg

Simply put, that thing is awesome! I mean wow!

awesome!

Greg every D-IV launch vid I've seen has had the H2 burp, so I think it's just some toasting but I'm not the expert.

Congrats! You made Drudge!

Scott Evil said:

Jeez Greg, what did you guys put in this thing? My computer INSTANTLY re-booted when I clicked the YouTube link. Seriously it did, I haven't seen it do that before! Time start backing up files. :LOL:

(Sorry, I just finished this book https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PU7WJ6/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20 )

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Hmmm... that's interesting.

The "cookies" from the NRO are not supposed to do that!



Greg

GregGleason said:

Did anyone else notice how the nice "paint" job got a little scorched at liftoff?

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I did. But I think I was too busy being stunned by the height of the thrust backwash. Is that a Vandenburg thing? Needs deeper pits maybe?

mach7 said:

I watched the video from the Drudge link. from KCAL 9 CBS LA. The reporteret, Amy Johnson is an dolt! she said the rocket reached mach 1, 17500mph in just 80 sec! How do these people get on the air?

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Sounds perfect for Drudge. What's the problem? :rofl:

Mikus said:

I did. But I think I was too busy being stunned by the height of the thrust backwash. Is that a Vandenburg thing? Needs deeper pits maybe?

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Nope the Vandenberg flame trench (SRMs) are the same as was built for the Shuttle. This bird did get more scorched than the previous Cape launches (mostly wind related around the vehicle), but as Mjennings pointed out our engines spew a little too much LH2 during start up. The "sparklers" ROFI's actually cause that plume of fire, but that's better than having a big "bang" if the gas was allowed to gather then get ignited all at once. The winds for this launch were pretty calm, a rarity for VAFB launches.