NASA Team ‘Go’ to Load Liquid Oxygen
NASA Launch Manager Tim Dunn has polled his team and given the “go” to begin loading of cryogenic liquid oxygen into the Delta II rocket’s first stage. That process, also called tanking, is expected to begin shortly.
The Delta II 7320 rocket set to launch SMAP this morning stands 127 feet tall and weighs approximately 165.5 tons. The first stage Aerojet Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine burns refined kerosene RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen for the first 65 seconds of flight. The total thrust is about 237,000 pounds. Three ATK solid rocket motors each will generate another 109,000 pounds of thrust. The Delta II second stage Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ10 restartable engine burns Aerozine 50, which is a mixture of hydrazine and dimethyl hydrazine reacting with nitrogen tetroxide to produce 9,750 pounds of thrust.
