News Vulcan: ULA's Next Generation Launcher

SRM nozzle seems to have gone, vehicie still going
 
A bit sideways...
SRM sep
 
Now, did the extra plume cause any damage to the engine zone in the core?
And does it have enough performance... it pitched up a lot now....
 
BECO, sep and RL-10 igntion!
PLF sep!

And does it have enough performance... it pitched up a lot now....
It is supposed to be +/- a copy of the first flight, and that sent stuff to the Moon, so it should have a decent change of getting into orbit.
 
Once that nozzle went, I was really expecting to see that thing turn into fireworks, celebrating the anniversary of the launch of Sputnik.
 
MECO-1 (about 20 seconds late)
 
MECO-2, about 5s late... not indications on if it ran dry.
 
Simulated spacecraft separation! (just simulated, nothing separated)
More Centaur operations going on...
 
The launch replay at the end of the webcast was cut before the "observation". :ROFLMAO:
 
Interesting. One of the SRB's exhaust plumes didn't look right at all. Looks like a very close call.

Still no official statement?
 

Very evident the lack of nozzle.
GZDtBI6XcAAzkLp.jpg



Lots of people thanking the BE-4s for saving Vulcan today... as if the engines gimbal by themselves... 🤦‍♂️
 
Wow, I would expect the loss of a nozzle to be catastrophic (at least for the booster and eventually for the rest of the LV too).

Lots of people thanking the BE-4s for saving Vulcan today... as if the engines gimbal by themselves... 🤦‍♂️
Yeah. That surprises me as well. Engines are supposed to gimbal for balancing the vehicle during powered flight anyway. I see nothing special here. The rocket did what it was supposed to do - fly on its trajectory and compensate deviations🤷‍♂️
 
Back
Top