Liftoff and the first six or so minutes of the trajectory looked awesome. Congrats to ULA on that!But, darn, they're gonna crash all three of those multi-tens-of-million-dollars booster stages into the ocean. And only use them once. Throw them away. Can you believe it?
I observed today’s launch from a bluff approximately 105 statute miles (167 kilometers) east-southeast of the launch site.[...]After a few minutes, I saw a very brief, colorless, spray-like event behind the vehicle. This was probably due to something being jettisoned from the Delta IV Heavy.The rocket then resembled a yellow point of light. A few seconds later, I saw a brief, colorless, wedge-shaped plume well behind the rocket. This appeared to have been caused by an object performing some type of venting.I continued to follow the yellow point of light until T+5 minutes 45 seconds [...]
Snippets of launch observation from Brian Webb: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/launch-alert/2019-January/001188.htmlQuoteI observed today’s launch from a bluff approximately 105 statute miles (167 kilometers) east-southeast of the launch site.[...]After a few minutes, I saw a very brief, colorless, spray-like event behind the vehicle. This was probably due to something being jettisoned from the Delta IV Heavy.The rocket then resembled a yellow point of light. A few seconds later, I saw a brief, colorless, wedge-shaped plume well behind the rocket. This appeared to have been caused by an object performing some type of venting.I continued to follow the yellow point of light until T+5 minutes 45 seconds [...]Is Webb reporting some known aspect of a DIV-H launch, or are his observations suggesting some deployment took place distinct from that of the nominal mission payload?
Is it just me, or did they add a pad water deluge system to SLC-6?I’ve never seen steam erupt out of the flame trench during these Delta IV Heavy launches.
Quote from: sdsds on 01/20/2019 06:28 amSnippets of launch observation from Brian Webb: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/launch-alert/2019-January/001188.htmlQuoteI observed today’s launch from a bluff approximately 105 statute miles (167 kilometers) east-southeast of the launch site.[...]After a few minutes, I saw a very brief, colorless, spray-like event behind the vehicle. This was probably due to something being jettisoned from the Delta IV Heavy.The rocket then resembled a yellow point of light. A few seconds later, I saw a brief, colorless, wedge-shaped plume well behind the rocket. This appeared to have been caused by an object performing some type of venting.I continued to follow the yellow point of light until T+5 minutes 45 seconds [...]Is Webb reporting some known aspect of a DIV-H launch, or are his observations suggesting some deployment took place distinct from that of the nominal mission payload?Port and starboard booster separation occurs about 105 nm downrange. First stage separation occurs at T+ 5:45. Thus most likely the report is related to these events.
Quote from: hoku on 01/20/2019 07:22 amQuote from: sdsds on 01/20/2019 06:28 amSnippets of launch observation from Brian Webb: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/launch-alert/2019-January/001188.htmlQuoteI observed today’s launch from a bluff approximately 105 statute miles (167 kilometers) east-southeast of the launch site.[...]After a few minutes, I saw a very brief, colorless, spray-like event behind the vehicle. This was probably due to something being jettisoned from the Delta IV Heavy.The rocket then resembled a yellow point of light. A few seconds later, I saw a brief, colorless, wedge-shaped plume well behind the rocket. This appeared to have been caused by an object performing some type of venting.I continued to follow the yellow point of light until T+5 minutes 45 seconds [...]Is Webb reporting some known aspect of a DIV-H launch, or are his observations suggesting some deployment took place distinct from that of the nominal mission payload?Port and starboard booster separation occurs about 105 nm downrange. First stage separation occurs at T+ 5:45. Thus most likely the report is related to these events.Thank you, that does clearly indicate Webb lost visual contact with the vehicle just around the time the engine on the center CBC shut down. Thus the plume he observed must have been associated with the strapon CBCs.<begin conspiracy theory thinking> Just how much physical space is enclosed by the caps that top the strapon CBCs? If the primary payload were low enough in mass could another payload with e.g. a clandestine storable propellant second stage be squirreled away inside one?<end conspiracy theory thinking>(I'm not suggesting there have been prior NRO launches that might have ever done anything like that!)
Was the large external flame external to the rocket engine initiation sequence, the heavy flames up to the height of the middle of the booster cores, a normal occurrence for the Delta IV Heavy?