Delta IV Heavy Failure?

Spaceflightnow is reporting that the inaugural
Delta IV Heavy vehicle underperformed so much, probably
during the boost phase, that the upper stage probably isn't
going to have enough propellant to be able to achieve the
planned final geostationary orbit. At this point in the
flight (the coast to GTO apogee), it looks like the
inaugural Delta IV Heavy launch may end in failure.

- Ed Kyle

The third burn of the second stage was short. Sounds like a failure.
- Ed Kyle

Ed Kyle wrote:
The third burn of the second stage was short. Sounds like a failure.
- Ed Kyle

An hour after the mission ended, Flatoday.com is
reporting that neither Boeing nor the Air Force have
announced mission results to the media. A bad sign.
Perhaps if they wait long enough before spilling the
bad news, the news outlets will stick with the
"success" headlines they were running earlier in the
evening.

- Ed Kyle

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
oups.com...

Ed Kyle wrote:
The third burn of the second stage was short. Sounds like a failure.
- Ed Kyle

An hour after the mission ended, Flatoday.com is
reporting that neither Boeing nor the Air Force have
announced mission results to the media. A bad sign.
Perhaps if they wait long enough before spilling the
bad news, the news outlets will stick with the
"success" headlines they were running earlier in the
evening.

Maybe, unlike the media, they're waiting for proof?


--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge

They knew the orbit almost instantly, but haven't
shared the info. That's all the information needed
to give the news reporters a quick heads up
regarding mission success/failure.

We could be seeing a repeat of the third Delta III
flight, during which Boeing shifted the acceptable
mission parameters to fit the results after the fact.
In that case, the time was spent not waiting for
proof, but "creating" it.

- Ed Kyle

"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
ps.com...
We could be seeing a repeat of the third Delta III
flight, during which Boeing shifted the acceptable
mission parameters to fit the results after the fact.
In that case, the time was spent not waiting for
proof, but "creating" it.

Well, nobody fell for it; the DIII hasn't flown since. D-IV-H will be
different.

--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge

They might also be waiting to see if they _can_ raise the payload to its
intended orbit.

--
Alan Erskine
We can get people to the Moon in five years,
not the fifteen GWB proposes.
Give NASA a real challenge


"Ed Kyle" wrote in message
ps.com...
They knew the orbit almost instantly, but haven't
shared the info. That's all the information needed
to give the news reporters a quick heads up
regarding mission success/failure.

We could be seeing a repeat of the third Delta III
flight, during which Boeing shifted the acceptable
mission parameters to fit the results after the fact.
In that case, the time was spent not waiting for
proof, but "creating" it.

- Ed Kyle

At least they got the Demosat deploy, three good upper
stage burns, and lots of solid engineering data. The story
now is that the first stage shut down early - the why has
not been announced yet. The core stage would have been
completing the longest in-flight burn time for an RS-68
engine. The core stage engine would have been exposed
to more hot gas recirculation than on previous flights. It
would have been running a more aggressive throttling
profile than before. The three CBCs would have had a much
bigger propellant utilization challenge than in previous flights.
The rocket could have experienced an unknown pogo mode,
etc..

If it was a failure, it will probably be a "successful failure",
unless Congress gets fed up and shuts the program down.
- Ed Kyle

Flatoday finally gave up on the deadline and will go with
"might have failed" for its morning paper. Flatoday also
says that "a mission failure would be a devastating
setback for the already troubled military-contractor
partnership in the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle
program".

Boeing didn't fool Florida Today.

- Ed Kyle

Demosat is a dummy, a mass simulator (at least that's the
story we are being told). It won't be able to raise its orbit
the way an operational satellite might be able to.

- Ed Kyle