An Atlas V hurled the latest Landsat satellite through the clouds and rain in Vandenberg a little over an hour ago. The successful boost is one of only a handful remaining Atlas and Delta flights and was the 300th in the long line of boosters named Atlas, though the only major commonality between early and late versions is the kero-lox fuel combination. I think there are 28 Atlas and 3 or 4 Deltas left, all with assigned missions.

The Vulcan is supposed to replace both, but the Bezos fart engine is behind schedule. Hopefully they will get it in gear and the Vulcan will be farting into space in the next two or three years. If they can't pick up the pace, some payloads may have to be converted to fly on a Falcon 9, or a Russian or ESA booster or outright delayed.

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I love sanding.

The launch part was cool, however, the narration and coverage were about as interesting as listening to a dog bark or less.

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The Rocketaholic

Replace the BE-4 with the Raptor but keep the airframe? Can SpaceX spare some?

While looking for a comparison between the two, I found this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4H...re=emb_imp_woyt

This is but one of many videos they have.


Bill

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It is well past time to Drill, Baby, Drill!

If your June, July, August and September was like this, you might just hate summer too...

Please unload your question before you ask it unless you have a concealed harry permit.

: countdown begin cr dup . 1- ?dup 0= until cr ." Launch!" cr ;

Give a man a rocket and he will fly for a day; teach him to build and he will spend the rest of his days sanding...

Awesome photo of Russian oxygen rich RD-180 technology in action. Large image so link only!
https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/...58aac0ae_o.jpeg

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I love sanding.