A #photograph of a United Launch Alliance #ULA #Delta4 Medium+ with 4 #SRBs and a 5 meter upper stage, waiting on LC-37B to #launch the fifth #WidebandGlobalSatcom #WGS #satellite.
The Mobile Service Structure, #MSS has moved back to reveal the #launch pad, the #rocket, and the Fixed Umbilical Tower.
The rocket itself is venting boiled-off liquid oxygen.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/delta-iv-medium-with-wgs-5-2-heron-and-fox.html

A #photograph of a United Launch Alliance #ULA #AtlasV rocket in its 401 configuration, with no #SRBs and a 4 meter fairing.
The #rocket is on its Mobile Launch Platform #MLP that is being pushed from the Vertical Integration Facility #VIF to the #launch pad at LC-41 at #CCAFS.

The modern #AtlasV #rocket has been called the #DialARocket for its ability to add capacity by adding solid rocket boosters like increasing steps on a #dial.
The “Dial” tops out at 5, with the #Atlas V 551, with a 5 meter fairing, 5 #SRBs, and 1 engine on the #Centaur upper stage. This is the #maximumrocket setting for the Atlas V dial. #ULA’s new #Vulcan rocket will have a dial that goes to 6.
#NASA’s #Juno #probe to #Jupiter was launched on an #AtlasV 551.
In this #photograph, it rams through a #cloud as the #spacecraft begins it trip to Jupiter.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/atlas-v-with-juno-clears-cloud-heron-and-fox.html

The modern #AtlasV #rocket, designed by #LockheedMarting and operated by the United Launch Alliance or #ULA, has been called the #DialARocket for its ability to add capacity by adding solid rocket boosters like increasing steps on a #dial.
The next-to-last stop on the “Dial” is the #Atlas V 541, with a 5 meter fairing, 4 #SRBs, and 1 engine on the #Centaur upper stage.
#NASA’s #Mars Science Laboratory #Rover #Curiosity #launched on a #ULA Atlas V 541.
This #photograph shows it leaping into the #clouds.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/1-atlas-v-with-msl-enters-the-clouds-heron-and-fox.html

The modern #AtlasV #rocket, designed by #LockheedMarting and operated by the United Launch Alliance or #ULA, has been called the #DialARocket for its ability to add capacity by adding solid rocket boosters like increasing steps on a #dial.
The “Dial” next goes up to 3 with the #Atlas V 431, with a 4 meter fairing, 3 #SRBs, and 1 engine on the #Centaur upper stage.
The private #comsat #EchostarXIX launched to #geostationary #orbit on a ULA Atlas V 431.
This #photograph shows it rising over the #dune at #PlayalindaBeach.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/atlas-v-with-echostar-xix-2-heron-and-fox.html

The modern #AtlasV #rocket, designed by #LockheedMarting and operated by the United Launch Alliance or #ULA, has been called the #DialARocket for its ability to add capacity by adding solid rocket boosters like increasing steps on a #dial.
The “Dial” starts at 0 with the #Atlas V 401, with a 4 meter fairing, 0 #SRBs, and 1 engine on the #Centaur upper stage. This version is said to take an extremely long time to clear the pad.
The #US #DOD’s #GPS position finding system launched several of its Block IIF #satellites on ULA Atlas V 401’s, as in this #photograph where the rocket lingers over the #launch pad.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/atlas-v-401-with-gps-iif-rises-heron-and-fox.html

A #photograph of a United Launch Alliance #ULA #DeltaIV Medium+ beginning to carry its payload, #WGS-5, the fifth satellite in the Wideband Global #Satcom system that enables the US #DOD and its international partners to keep in contact with deployed military units and ensure secure communications.
The Delta IV Medium+ has a 5 m fairing and 4 #GEM60 solid rocket boosters #SRBs. Its #exhaust is incredibly bright and interesting against the twilight sky.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/1-delta-iv-medium-launches-with-wgs-5-heron-and-fox.html

After a #rocket #launch, the exhaust, often mostly water, can create a condensation trail, which is twisted by the wind. And when the Sun is just beyond the horizon, it can illuminate these trails high in the atmosphere in fantastic, #colorful ways. This #phenomenon is sometimes called a #launchjellyfish because the trail can expand in different ways depending on the #launchvehicle and weather conditions, sometimes taking the shape of a giant #jellyfish in the sky.
This trail was created by the a United Launch Alliance #ULA #DeltaIV Medium+ with a 5 meter fairing and 4 #GEM60 solid rocket boosters #SRBs, carrying #WGS5, the fifth Wideband Global #Satcom satellite for the US #DoD and international partners.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/vapor-trail-of-delta-iv-with-wgs-5-heron-and-fox.html

A #photograph of a United Launch Alliance #ULA #AtlasV #rocket in its 431 configuration, with a 4 meter diameter fairing, 3 solid rocket boosters #SRBs, and a single #RL10 engine on its #Centaur upper stage climbs up from its #launch pad.
This #photo was taken from #PlayalindaBeach in the Cape Canaveral National Seashore #CCNS, where a mile’s hike on the beach can bring you directly against the decrepit wire fence that marks the boundary between the parts of #MerrittIsland open to the public, and #NASA’s Kennedy Space Center’s #KSC operational area.
The perspective in this image makes one of those fraying wires seem like an obstacle to the #rocket approaching from below.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/atlas-v-with-echostar-xix-climbs-towards-wire-heron-and-fox.html

A United Launch Alliance #ULA #AtlasV 431 #rocket #launches from Cape Canaveral #CCAFS. It is equipped with a 4 meter fairing, 3 solid rocket boosters #SRBs, and a single RL-10 #engine on the #Centaur upper stage. The #Atlas V uses a #Russian RD-180 engine in its core stage, a deal worked out to prevent Russian technology from ending up in places the US didn’t want. So US companies were encouraged to form such partnerships.
Unfortunately they are no longer tenable.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/atlas-v-with-echostar-xix-peaks-over-the-dune-heron-and-fox.html

At the end of :nasa: #NASA’s #SpaceShuttle program, the #Orbiters were given to museums for display to the public. #Discovery went to the #Smithsonian, #Atlantis remained in #Florida the #KSCVC / #VisitorsComplex at the privately-funded #AtlantisMuseuem.
#Endeavour was given to the #CaliforniaScienceCenter, which planned to display the orbiter as if ready for launch, attached to a spare #ExternalTank and replica #SRBs.
Here, Endeavour is in the #MateDemateDevice / #MDD. The MDD lifts the Orbiter up so that the #ShuttleCarrierAircraft, a #Boeing 747, can have the Shuttle mounted on its back to fly elsewhere, or be removed from the #SCA after being returned to #KSC after landing elsewhere.
The carrier aircraft is visible just under and behind Endeavour.
https://heronfox.pixels.com/featured/endeavour-in-the-mate-demate-device-heron-and-fox.html

Fox (the #photographer) got started shooting #rocketlaunches. This #ULA / #UnitedLaunchAlliance #AtlasV 401 #rocket with no #SRBs, a single RL-10 engine on the #Centaur upper stage, and a 4 meters is carrying the mission designated OA-7, the seventh #Cygnus #spacecraft to launch to the #InternationalSpaceStation / #ISS. The previous rocket, the #OrbitalSciences #Antares, failed after a refurbished #Soviet-era NK-33 #rocketengine exploded shortly after launch and the resulting explosion badly damaged the #launchpad.
#Orbital selected a ULA Atlas V to launch the next resupply mission while they sourced new engines and redesigned their #rocket.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/atlas-v-with-oa-7-clearing-the-tower-heron-and-fox.html