Launch scrubbed today for winds > 20kts and cloud cover. NASA plans to try again tomorrow at 1200Z.
Launch scrubbed today for winds > 20kts and cloud cover. NASA plans to try again tomorrow at 1200Z.
So... I woke up at 0430 this morning to watch a dildo on a pad stay there... :icon_rage
Rocket fired.... ballistics happened. Sorry, no drama.
What was especially fun to watch was how excited the launch team was afterwards. It's been a while since we've shot a new man-rated rocket. Now we have to wait four years for Ares I-Y.... sigh.
Edit: OK watching the re-plays, I'm a little curious. Maybe someone really knows their rockets here. Just as they were passing through the Mach (as shown by the vapor rings), the guy said the chamber pressure was decreasing as designed. I understand they might want to decrease chamber pressure and thrust passing through max-q, but how do they design a solid rocket motor to do that?
Solid fuel rockets can be designed with specific patterns to affect the surface area being burned. More area = more burn = more thrust. Create a shape that decreases the area at a certain time and you'll decrease the thrust and all that with it.
A picture is worth a thousand words, this should explain it...
picture worth thousand words follows...
Hard to believe this is like NASA's first new rocket launch in nearly 30 years
How can anyone NOT be excited to pieces about this? The end state of this is going back to the MOON. Maybe I'm just geeking out a bit, but this is something that should be applauded and looked at with great pride.
We're going back to the moon, people. Get excited.