View Full Version : Another Lockheed Martin Launch Success - Mars 2020
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNa1iM1uVAk
Jump to ~ 1:36:00 into the video for the actual launch ...
The rover and helicopter drone are on their way to Mars!
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/news/features/2020/perseverance-mars-helicopter-deployment-system.html
ydousurf
07-30-2020, 12:57 PM
Very cool indeed, Dave! I can't wait until we see and even hear about what new discoveries are revealed to humanity. I hope you sent your name along for the journey? I did! I'm such a space nerd :P
https://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/mars2020/certificate/174528770670
Dj
Cobradavid
07-30-2020, 03:37 PM
That Atlas V 541 really leaps off the pad!
That Atlas V 541 really leaps off the pad!
Yep - 4 SRBs and the RL-10 make some serious thrust.
Cobradavid
07-30-2020, 08:08 PM
Yep - 4 SRBs and the RL-10 make some serious thrust.
Actually, the Atlas V first stage engine is the RD-180. It's a brute-force beast! :D The RL10 is the second stage (Centaur) engine. The RL10 is elegantly simple and a workhorse in its own right.
Actually, the Atlas V first stage engine is the RD-180. It's a brute-force beast! :D The RL10 is the second stage (Centaur) engine. The RL10 is elegantly simple and a workhorse in its own right.
That's right. Before the Atlas factory closed in Colorado and moved to Alabama after Lockheed spun the business off to ULA, I got to tour the facility. It was interesting seeing several RD-180 engines sitting in crates covered in Russian labels. They also assembled the Centaur stage in the same facility. That building has now been repurposed and transformed into an incredible satellite assembly facility where several satellites are in production at any given time.
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=132754&d=1596162152
https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/gps.html
Cobradavid
07-31-2020, 12:36 PM
Nice pic! It reminds me of some of the clean high-bay facilities at KSC. I assume that's at the L-M Waterton Canyon campus? I've been up there for some work with the Orion spacecraft guys. I haven't made it to ULA's Decatur facility yet, but I have been to Aerojet-Rocketdyne's facility in Florida where they make the RL10 engines. Cool stuff!
Thanks for sharing
David
Yes -- It's the Waterton campus. My daughter's father-in-law is a Director on Orion. Snapped this pic out of my office window:
https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=129128&d=1590619240