DailyDirt: 3, 2, 1... Liftoff

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Filed Under: balloons, re-usable rockets, rockets, spacecraft, suborbital, x-37b
Companies: boeing, nasa, spacex


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  • identicon
    Lawrence D’Oliveiro, 24 May 2016 @ 7:58pm

    For The ESA, It Is “3, 2, 1 ... Ignition”

    Time T (as in “T minus time”) is defined differently by NASA versus the ESA: the former defines it as the moment of liftoff, the latter as the moment of engine ignition. So liftoff happens at T plus a few seconds.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • icon
      Roger Strong (profile), 24 May 2016 @ 8:28pm

      Re: For The ESA, It Is “3, 2, 1 ... Ignition”

      I wonder how the ESA would have handled the Space Shuttle.

      First the Shuttle main engines ignite, get up to speed, and get checked out. Only then do the solids ignite. (And THAT's when liftoff happens, ready or not.)

      link to this | view in chronology ]


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