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Ignition of all three RS-68A
main engines + hydrogen burn off as NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is propelled to study and fly through our Sun’s corona atop the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launched Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Ken Kremer — SpaceUpClose.com — 13 August 2018
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER,
FL – NASA’s daring Parker
Solar Probe mission slated to fly at never before attained speeds through the
hellish atmosphere of our Sun’s corona for the first time in human history,
began with a dazzling middle-of-the-night blastoff of the mighty Delta IV Heavy
rocket in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Aug. 12 – and delivered the car sized
spacecraft to start her 7 year journey of science and discovery to elucidate
our origins billions of years ago.
The 23-story tall triple barreled United Launch
Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket successfully launched at 3:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 12 from
the Florida Space Coast and put on a brilliant display of fire power with 2.1
million pounds of thrust spewing forth from the trio of liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen
RS-68A main engines that quickly turned night into day a few hours before Sundays
natural sunrise under nearly cloud-free skies.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER,
FL – NASA’s daring Parker
Solar Probe mission slated to fly at never before attained speeds through the
hellish atmosphere of our Sun’s corona for the first time in human history,
began with a dazzling middle-of-the-night blastoff of the mighty Delta IV Heavy
rocket in the wee hours of Sunday morning, Aug. 12 – and delivered the car sized
spacecraft to start her 7 year journey of science and discovery to elucidate
our origins billions of years ago.
The 23-story tall triple barreled United Launch
Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket successfully launched at 3:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 12 from
the Florida Space Coast and put on a brilliant display of fire power with 2.1
million pounds of thrust spewing forth from the trio of liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen
RS-68A main engines that quickly turned night into day a few hours before Sundays
natural sunrise under nearly cloud-free skies.
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The
United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA’s Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun and dive into the corona, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. From camera at pad. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Check out our Space UpClose gallery of photos
and videos. Click back again as the gallery of imagery grows. Plus my BBC TV World News prelaunch interview.
and videos. Click back again as the gallery of imagery grows. Plus my BBC TV World News prelaunch interview.
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Streaking to the Sun!! NASA’s
Historic Parker Solar Probe is on its way to ‘Touch the Sun’ for the first time in November 2018 in this long duration streak shot taken after 3:31 AM EDT blastoff Aug. 12, 2018 from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The probe is healthy and power positive after delivery to space by United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
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Credit: Julian Leek
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Liftoff came a day late but was no less
awesome – to resolve a countdown glitch encountered in the final moment of the
initial launch attempt Saturday morning.
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The
United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launches NASA’s Parker Solar Probe to touch the Sun and dive into the corona, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. From camera at pad. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
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Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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The three stage rocket delivered NASA’s Parker
spacecraft to its intended trajectory toward a swing by of the planet Venus in
October that will drive the spacecraft towards its first solar perihelion encounter
in November 2018 at a solar distance of merely 15 million miles – half the
previous record.
spacecraft to its intended trajectory toward a swing by of the planet Venus in
October that will drive the spacecraft towards its first solar perihelion encounter
in November 2018 at a solar distance of merely 15 million miles – half the
previous record.
Parker is on a historic mission
to soar through the sun’s outer
atmosphere — the solar corona – skimming within
4 million miles, 8.86 solar
radii (6.2 million kilometers) of the suns fiercely hot surface where it
will encounter brutally hot conditions reaching into the millions of degrees
and repeatedly experience extremely intense and deadly radiation environments.
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Multiple perspectives
showing long flames & shock diamonds spewing forth from all three RS-68A main engines soaring away from Earth carrying NASA’s Parker Solar Probe atop United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launching from pad 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida Aug 12, 2018. The probe will soon reach all the way to our Star across 100 Million miles of space during 1st perihelion pass Nov 2018 for coronal touching and sampling of the suns atmosphere. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
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Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
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Parker will travel at
unprecedented speeds of up to 430,000 MPH, some 700,000 kph as at swings by the
sun 24 times over the next 7 years via orbits shaped by 7 flybys of Venus.
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Ignition of all three RS-68A
main engines – Up Close view – as NASA’s Parker Solar Probe is propelled to study and fly through our Sun’s corona atop the United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket launched Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
Here’s my Parker launch video
from a remote camera set at pad 37:
from a remote camera set at pad 37:
Video Caption: Launch of NASA’s Parker Solar Probe on United Launch Alliance
Delta IV Heavy rocket on Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Launch
Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on humanity’s 1st
mission to our sun that will fly through the sun’s atmosphere or corona – as seen in this remote camera video taken at the pad. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Delta IV Heavy rocket on Aug. 12, 2018, at 3:31 a.m. EDT from Launch
Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on humanity’s 1st
mission to our sun that will fly through the sun’s atmosphere or corona – as seen in this remote camera video taken at the pad. Credit:
Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com
Here’s my BBC TV World News
Pre-Launch interview:
Pre-Launch interview:
Watch for Ken’s continuing onsite coverage of NASA, SpaceX, ULA,
Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Orbital ATK and more space and mission reports direct
from the Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida and
Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia.
Stay tuned here for Ken’s continuing Earth and Planetary science and human
spaceflight news: www.kenkremer.com
–www.spaceupclose.com – twitter @ken_kremer – email: ken at kenkremer.com
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Credit: Jeff Seibert
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Streaking to the Sun!! NASA’s
Historic Parker Solar Probe is on its way to ‘Touch the Sun’ for the first time in November 2018 in this long duration streak shot taken after 3:31 AM EDT blastoff Aug. 12, 2018 from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The probe is healthy and power positive after delivery to space by United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
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Pastel prelaunch sunset view of United Launch Alliance
Delta IV Heavy rocket carrying NASA’s historic Parker Solar Probe on the eve of Aug. 12, 2018 launch from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. Credit: Ken Kremer/kenkremer.com/spaceupclose.com |
