Forged in fire, bound for fire: Parker Solar Probe + Delta IV Heavy
Forged in fire, bound for fire: Parker Solar Probe + Delta IV Heavy
This series of frames comes from a sound-activated camera I placed at Launch Complex 37 approximately 32 hours before the 3:31 am (ET) Sunday (August 12, 2018) morning launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. Sitting atop the rocket is the Parker Solar Probe, bound for a first-ever mission to, as NASA so nicely phrased it, "touch the Sun" resulting in temperatures upwards of 2,500 degrees (F).
This sequence encompasses approximately 10-seconds, and it captures the Delta IV Heavy coming to life in a particularly fiery manner: it lights itself on fire before ignition to burn off stray fumes, and then a moment later the Aerojet / Rocketdyne RS-68A engines ignite, pushing the rocket skyward, or rather, spaceward.
ULA CEO Tory Bruno indicated on Twitter that they refer to this rocket as "The Beast" and you can see why.
(Pihotos: Michael Seeley / We Report Space)
