Starship is great and all, but that's a god damn beautiful looking rocket.
Quote from: sstli2 on 10/01/2024 01:25 pmStarship is great and all, but that's a god damn beautiful looking rocket.Starship is great and all, but that's a mighty beautiful looking rocket.
Things are getting frosty. The WDR is underway. #CERT2 #VulcanRocket
Cert-2: Dress rehearsal of Vulcan launch day plannedOctober 1, 2024Before we launch the #VulcanRocket #Cert2 flight test, we will put the hardware, pad systems and launch team through a complete rehearsal. Today is Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR) day at Space launch Complex-41! Learn more in our blog:
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket rolled out to the Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 pad at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Sept. 30 to undergo an extensive practice countdown ahead of its second Certification (Cert-2) flight test. Known as a Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR), ULA is preparing to conduct a full day-of-launch test to ensure the new rocket, pad systems and launch team are ready for the second Vulcan mission. The WDR exercises the hardware, procedures and the people to reduce the risk of a delay on launch day. The rehearsal follows the tightly scripted sequence by rolling the Vulcan from the Vertical Integration Facility-G (VIF-G) to SLC-41 and performing the entire countdown operation to fuel the rocket with cryogenic propellant.The countdown begins before sunrise under the guidance of the ULA launch conductor from the Advanced Spaceflight Operations Center (ASOC), located about four miles (6.4 km) from the pad. The rocket stages are powered up, avionics tested and final preps to ground systems accomplished. That enables the ULA launch director to give approval for fueling process. The launch team configures the Vulcan Centaur for cryogenic loading and approximately one million pounds (454,000 kg) of methane, liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen into the rocket's tanks using the same procedures that will be executed on the actual launch day. With the rocket filled up, permission will be given to enter terminal count at T-minus 7 minutes. The final phase of the countdown pressurizes the rocket, arms various systems and transitions the vehicle to internal power. The count finishes just prior to ignition time. The rocket is then safed and cryogenic tanks drained. The thorough data will be performed before moving into the countdown for launch. Liftoff is targeted for no earlier than Oct. 4. The highly instrumented rocket will carry a non-deployable inert payload into space, run unique experiments and conduct a series of detailed test objectives to collect performance data while fulfilling ULA’s certification obligations to the nation.
#VulcanRocket is just blowing off a little steam after a long day of Wet Dress Rehersing…#CERT2
3,2,1...our practice countdown has culminated as planned for the #VulcanRocket's Wet Dress Rehearsal. Activities will continue into this evening as propellants are drained and our teammates begin reviewing all the data collected today to ensure #Cert2 is ready to fly.
Detanking just about done. A good day of WDR… #VulcanRocket #CERT2
Hey Tory, was the WDR completed fully? Asking to know if everything is ready for launch
YesLooks like it. We’ll finish combing through the data today, but it appears to have been a very clean run
Why did you guys add an insulator to the LNG tank after CERT-1?
Because the aero heating into the tank was slightly higher on CERT1 than predicted. This will give us just over 1 second more usable propellent
We are "go" for the launch of the #VulcanRocket on the #Cert2 flight test! The launch window opens Friday at 6 a.m. EDT (1000 UTC) from Cape Canaveral, FL. http://bit.ly/vulcan_cert2
Wondering if you can see the #VulcanRocket launch? This visibility map shows when and where your best chances are to see #Cert2 as it lifts off Friday at 6 a.m. EDT (1000 UTC) from Cape Canaveral.
Here’s a #ToryTimelapse for your viewing pleasure. WDR: frost on, frost off…. #CERT2 #VulcanRocket
@torybruno Good luck with the launch. Per the principles laid out at aas.org/sites/default/…I hope ULA will make available the Centaur heliocentric orbital parameters (or state vector).
Clarifying from my earlier post. We did recently settle on a heliocentric disposal after the experimental maneuvers.
With a final burn to hyperbolic
Hey Tory, I will be attending the launch on Friday. I understand that the window is from 6 am to 9 am. How long before launch will we have a targeted launch time?Will their be a live stream?Thanks for all you do.
Now: The targeted time is 6am (local). If there is lightning, a glitching instrument, or a stuck valve, etc, we can take time to sort that out and still launch as late as 9am.Yes
Team Blue is looking forward to @ulalaunch’s Vulcan #Cert2 launch powered by two of our #BE4 engines! Each engine will produce 550,000 pounds of thrust. #PoweredByBE4
#Cert2 // ToryTalk 🚀Learn from @ToryBruno what tomorrow’s #VulcanRocket launch is all about.
