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Questions tagged [delta-iv-heavy]

Delta 4 Heavy uses three of the Delta 4 Common Booster Cores side by side to launch heavy payloads.

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Are the Delta IV Heavy’s attachments for SRBs removable?

The Delta IV (which uses solid rockets in a couple configurations) shares a "Common Booster Core" with the Delta IV Heavy, which does not. Since Delta IV must have attachments for the solid ...
Blue Skin and Glowing Red Eyes's user avatar
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Can a Delta IV Medium fairing be put on a Delta IV Heavy for small payloads?

The Delta IV Heavy has a bigger fairing because it's able to lift heavier/bigger payloads, as we saw in this question. But if a payload is small and still needs a Delta IV Heavy because of its high ...
Nobody's user avatar
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Why is the Delta IV Heavy taller than the Delta IV Medium?

Looking at below picture, the Delta IV Heavy is clearly much taller than the Medium. Is there any specific reason why? https://www.space.com/15078-rocket-launch-delta-4-milestone.html
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Why did NASA never launch crewed Orion missions on a Delta IV Heavy to the ISS?

Following the successful EFT-1 mission, why didn't NASA start launching crews to the ISS on the Orion spacecraft? This question deals about why crews weren't sent to the Moon, but I wonder why wasn't ...
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Why do RS-68s suffer ignition failures?

NROL-44 failed to be in space for yet one more night last night, this time because of an automated hotfire abort triggered when one of the outboard (iirc) engines on the Delta IV Heavy failed to ...
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Why isn't the Delta IV Heavy ever used for crewed spaceflight?

In 2014 the Orion spacecraft was launched on top of the Delta IV Heavy for the first time. Why do they build another rocket, the SLS, instead of launching the Orion on the Delta also with humans on ...
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How is imbalance handled in the Delta IV heavy?

All the engines of the Delta IV are not ignited at the same time: One of the lateral engine is started few seconds before the other. I imagine there is a good reason for not starting all engines at ...
Manu H's user avatar
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Feasibilities and challenges of these Orion + commercial lunar lander scenarios? [closed]

Suppose that US politicians want to fund a moon mission without SLS, using only hardware that is working now in 2019, using Orion together with some future moon lander supplied by the private sector. ...
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Why would rocket bodies use specifically ablative coatings to reduce boil-off of cryogenic propellants? Is ablation important for this?

The end of YouTube video Delta IV Heavy Pad Tour, (with CEO Tory Bruno) - Smarter Every Day 199 points to Destin's second "Smarter" channel's video UP CLOSE Delta IV Heavy Launch Pad Tour (...
uhoh's user avatar
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What is the point of launching EM-1 on DIVH/F9H?

EM-1 was originally a full-up test of the SLS block 1B: Orion, ICPS (a modified 5-meter Delta cryogenic second stage), and the first stage/SRBs. NASA administrator Bridenstine’s statement on 3/13/...
lionel's user avatar
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Surmountability of the technical risks to launching EM-1 on commercial rockets?

NASA administrator Bridenstine announced that commercial rockets (e.g., Delta Heavy and Falcon Heavy) would be considered as ways to launch EM-1 by July, 2020. Such a move would reportedly require a ...
lionel's user avatar
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Can Delta Heavy launch a fully fueled upper stage with no payload attached?

There is right now talk of a potential dual launch mission to fulfill EM-1, where a Delta Heavy would launch a fully fueled upper stage to LEO, to there bet met with the Orion spacecraft, likely ...
PearsonArtPhoto's user avatar
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What causes these plume features on Delta IV Heavy?

Just catching up on the Jan 19th launch of NROL-71 on board the Delta IV Heavy and I noticed these very prominent features in the exhaust plumes, beginning around the time the centre core is throttled ...
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Why does the Delta 4 Heavy look burned? [duplicate]

When I was looking at pictures of the Delta 4 Heavy rocket, I noticed that closer to the engines, the rocket looks black instead of the orange color it has right after launch. It looks burned to me. ...
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Velocity of the Parker Probe when it will be given final boost by the rocket?

What is the current speed of the parker probe which is just launched today(After Final boost(detached by the rocket)). I was just guessing as it will attain max speed of ...
Sudhanshu Gaur's user avatar
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What is the blue/red flare at the Delta IV Heavy launchpad

I was watching the (eventually scrubbed) launch of Delta IV Heavy with the Parker Solar Probe. I noticed a fairly large blue/red flare near the launch pad. I'm guessing it's LH/LOX, but I thought ...
Ludo's user avatar
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How does the Parker Solar Probe have such a wide launch window?

The Parker Solar Probe is set to launch on August 11th 2018. It will perform 7 orbit-lowering gravity assists around Venus for ~6 years before reaching its final operational orbit. It has been well ...
Jack's user avatar
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Why can't Falcon Heavy accelerate deep space payloads as fast as Atlas V and Delta Heavy?

A Falcon Heavy with an expendable core costs $95M and lifts 2.5x as much to GTO as the Atlas V. It's Pluto injection orbit payload is nearly half of the Atlas V's GTO payload. In the answer to this ...
SafeFastExpressive's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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What is the current status of delta IV heavy 7 (in 2017)?

I cannot find references if the Delta IV heavy 7 except on this wikipedia image. It consists of a Delta IV heavy with 6 boosters. There may be a need for such powerfull launcher (otherwise the SLS' ...
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Why are some rockets orange?

After many successful launches with the Delta II, ULA made the Delta IV rocket orange. What's the reason for this strange color change? Also the Atlas V's first stage is orange, is there any ...
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How can the same upper stage be optimal on a common core booster as well as on a single booster?

Bundling three or five first stage cores together improves the launch capacity a great deal. But Delta, Falcon and Angara are supposed to use the same upper stage in their multiple common core ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
654 views

Delta IV Heavy trans-lunar injection mass

What is the mass capacity for the Delta IV Heavy for a trans-lunar injection? Or is there a way to take its capacity to GEO or LEO and substitute it into a formula which would bring the approximate ...
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What does the US Govt get out of its Assured Access funding of ULA?

ULA gets a so called subsidy (currently purported to be $800 million a year, since it is being considered to be cancelled) for Assured Access to space. Their lack of a bid on the GPS3 launch contract ...
geoffc's user avatar
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14 votes
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Could a Delta 4 Heavier be built?

The Delta 4 vehicle is a common booster core (CBC) design, where a single booster design can be used to launch in single stick mode, or in triple stick (Heavy) mode. The single stick model also has ...
geoffc's user avatar
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Who built the sparklers used by the Shuttle program during launch?

The Shuttle main engines used LH2 and LOX, and used sparklers to burn off the hydrogen that would be exhausted, unburned, during engine startup. (They pre-chill the engine components so that they are ...
geoffc's user avatar
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15 votes
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What makes Falcon Heavy with 3 booster 4 times more capable than single booster F9?

Falcon Heavy is expected to take 4 times more mass to LEO than Falcon 9 (53 instead of 13 tons). Are bigger rockets generally about 4/3 times more capable per fuel mass and engine thrust? It doesn't ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
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What is happening in the few seconds surrounding t=0 of the Delta IV Heavy launch? [duplicate]

Watching footage of the Orion test launch on Dec 5th, one can see orange flames rise up from the base of the rocket in the few seconds before t=0 and before the engines appear to fully "fire up". ...
Anthony X's user avatar
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What's next for Orion?

Orion's Exploration Flight Test 1 today appeared to go very well. The only information on future Orion flights I was able to find suggests that the next step is an unmanned circumlunar flight ...
Russell Borogove's user avatar
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Why do rockets separate from both its strap-on booster cores simultaneously instead of one at a time? (Delta IV Heavy, Falcon Heavy, Angara)

The basic idea of staged rocketry is to get rid of the mass of empty tanks et cetera as soon as possible during launch, isn't it? So you would ideally want to drop them one at a time as soon as they ...
LocalFluff's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
251 views

Will the EFT-1 mission for Orion carry an escape tower?

December 2014 is the scheduled date for the Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) mission of the Orion space capsule. It will be launched on a Delta IV Heavy rocket as a surrogate for the unavailable SLS ...
geoffc's user avatar
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13 votes
1 answer
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Are the three core boosters in a Delta 4-Heavy interchangeable?

I was reading an article about the 2 of the 3 cores arriving by barge from Decatur at CCAFS and it noted that the two would be the Starboard and center cores. This made me wonder what differences in ...
geoffc's user avatar
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21 votes
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Why not use Sparklers on Delta-4 Heavy launches to burn off the hydrogen?

With three CBC (Common Booster Core) modules firing their RS-68A engines simultaneously, a Delta 4 Heavy launch is an impressive sight. The RS-68 is a LOX/LH2 engine. As part of the launch sequence, ...
geoffc's user avatar
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