{"id":13642,"date":"2018-08-17T01:16:48","date_gmt":"2018-08-16T17:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/photos-final-delta-2-rocket-assembled-for-launch-in-california\/"},"modified":"2018-08-17T01:16:48","modified_gmt":"2018-08-16T17:16:48","slug":"photos-final-delta-2-rocket-assembled-for-launch-in-california","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/photos-final-delta-2-rocket-assembled-for-launch-in-california\/","title":{"rendered":"Photos: Final Delta 2 rocket assembled for launch in California"},"content":{"rendered":"

The step-by-step stacking of United Launch Alliance\u2019s final Delta 2 rocket was completed in June at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for liftoff Sept. 15 with an Earth science satellite for NASA.<\/p>\n

Workers at Vandenberg lifted the Delta 2\u2019s first stage on its launch mount June 8, then added an interstage connector June 12. Ground crews mated four solid-fueled strap-on boosters in mid-June, and hoisted the Delta 2\u2019s second stage into position June 21.<\/p>\n

These photos show the pieces of the Delta 2 rocket arriving at Space Launch Complex 2-West at Vandenberg ahead of liftoff Sept. 15 with NASA\u2019s ICESat 2 satellite, designed to measure changes in ice sheets, and the height of vegetation, land and ocean surfaces, and clouds from an orbit around 300 miles (500 kilometers) above Earth.<\/p>\n

The launch window Sept. 15 opens at 5:46 a.m. EDT (8:46 a.m. EDT; 1246 GMT).<\/p>\n

The ICESat 2 mission will be the 155th and final launch of a Delta 2 rocket since February 1989. Of the 154 Delta 2 flights completed to date, 152 have been successful.<\/p>\n

Read our full story for details on the Delta 2 launch campaign. The photos posted below show the Delta 2\u2019s launch preparations at Vandenberg Air Force Base.<\/p>\n

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The Delta 2 rocket is removed from its shipping container after arriving at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Vanessa Valentine<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Technicians clean and take samples from one-half of the Delta 2\u2019s payload fairing. Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Delta 2\u2019s first stage arrives at Space Launch Complex 2-West. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Pedro Carrillo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Delta 2\u2019s first stage is raised off its transport trailer. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Pedro Carrillo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Delta 2 rocket\u2019s first stage RS-27A main engine. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Pedro Carrillo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Pedro Carrillo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Delta 2\u2019s first stage is raised into the mobile service tower. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Pedro Carrillo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Delta 2\u2019s interstage is lifted at Space Launch Complex 2-West. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Delta 2\u2019s interstage is lowered onto the rocket\u2019s first stage. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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One of the Delta 2\u2019s four solid rocket boosters arrives at the launch pad. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Technicians position one of the Delta 2\u2019s four solid rocket boosters onto the first stage. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A member of the Delta 2 team assists in the placement of a solid rocket booster on the first stage of the Delta 2 rocket at Vandenberg Air Force Base on June 15. Credit: USAF 30th Space Wing\/Mark Mackley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Workers prepare the Delta 2\u2019s second stage for its attachment to the rocket. Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Delta 2\u2019s second stage is raised into the mobile service tower. Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Ground crews lift the second stage of a Delta 2 rocket into the mobile gantry at Space Launch Complex 2-West at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The second stage was stacked atop the Delta 2 rocket June 21. Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Credit: NASA\/Randy Beaudoin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The step-by-step stacking of United Launch Alliance\u2019s final Delta 2 rocket was completed in June at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for liftoff Sept. 15 with an Earth science satellite for NASA. Workers at Vandenberg lifted the Delta 2\u2019s first stage on its launch mount June 8, then added an interstage connector June 12. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1878,1807,2871,159,594,1790,2872,679],"class_list":["post-13642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-delta","tag-delta-2","tag-delta-381","tag-earth-observation","tag-earth-science","tag-goddard-space-flight-center","tag-icesat-2","tag-launch-services-program"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13642"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}