• Final ULA Delta II Rocket successfully deploys ICESat2 to Polar Orbit
    0 replies, posted
Delta II concludes amazing legacy with ICESat After twenty-nine years of reliable service, United Launch Alliance’s veteran Delta II rocket made its final flight Saturday with the deployment of the ICESat-2 climate research satellite for NASA. Delta lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 06:02 Local Time, beginning a mission that also closed the final chapter in the 60-year-long history of the Thor missile, from which Delta II’s first stage evolved. The Delta II was big, blue and carried numerous notable payloads throughout it's long and distinguished career, including both MER Spirit and Opportunity to mars. A vehicle which can draw it's legacy all the way back to the late 1950s Thor IRBM, the final assembled Delta II will be put on display at Kennedy Space Center, a worthy addition to the exhibits celebrating the USA's great rockets of history. The ICESat2 payload this rocket carried will use Laser Altimeters to measure the changing shape of the ice at the poles, helping us to track the changes our Home Planet has been and continues to undergo. https://files.facepunch.com/forum/upload/558/e2ded05e-d35b-47a1-8011-eb03af65f706/image.png
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.