With the advent of spring, an iconic garden has now sprouted a bright blue new addition – a last lance vehicle of its kind.
The Delta II launched Tuesday (March 23) in the rocket garden at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. The addition of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) retired missile was the first “growth” in the collection of historical boosters from the visitor complex in many years.
“It’s been a while since we were able to put a new rocket in the garden, and having one that’s basically very recent is a real highlight,” said Therrin Protze, chief operating officer of the Kennedy Space Center. Visitor Complex, said in an interview with collectSPACE. “It looks completely different from the others. It really stands out in its glorious color.”
The Delta II, with its trademark “Delta Blue” finish, now stands among the mostly black-and-white rockets from the early years of American space exploration, and represents the workhorse that has been lifted 155 times – 100 on consecutive successful missions – from 1989 to 2018. The Delta II lifted probes to the moon and to Mars, placed astronomical observatories in Earth orbit and deployed the first GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites.
“The Delta II on display is a launcher that satisfies many possibilities for the world,” said Ron Fortson, director and general manager of ULA. “For space exploration, it launched many missions to Mars: two robbers, Spirit and Opportunity; Mars Odyssey; and the Phoenix Lander, all launched on Delta II. There is so much science we have learned because of the Delta II. “
“From a military perspective, GPS is enormous. I can not imagine the world without GPS, and Delta has essentially launched the constellation,” Fortson said. “And from a commercial perspective, there were Iridium satellites, Global Star and Digital Globe. There’s a lot of commercial communications. [capabilities] provided by the Delta II. ‘
The Delta II’s three primary customers – NASA, the military and commercial industry – are represented by the rocket’s three shelf amplifiers (the Delta II flew with up to nine of the solid fuel strips). The boosters, as well as the single RS-27A main engine, are the only components of the new exhibit that are replicas. The rest of the rocket consists of hardware left over from the end of the Delta II program.
If we look up at the 132-meter (40-meter) Delta II, visitors to the Kennedy Space Center will see the “shark teeth”‘s nose art on the rocket’s hood.
“It’s really a tribute to the Flying Tigers during World War II,” Fortson told collectSPACE, referring to the American volunteer pilots who helped defend China from Japan. “It is also symbolic of the 45th Space Wing [based at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station], taken from their mascot, which they call the “Snark Shark”. It was part of history, with the 45th Space Wing that was here, to have it on the hood. ‘All Delta II GPS launches have included the shark’s teeth artwork.
The Delta II now stands in the garden near the nose of the Apollo-era Saturn IB, the next most recent rocket among the exhibits. The Delta II’s RS-27 engine shares a legacy with the H-1, which powered the main stages of the Saturn IB.
The other rockets on display in the garden include the Juno I, Juno II, Atlas-Agena, Mercury-Redstone, Mercury-Atlas and Gemini-Titan II. There is also a Thor Delta, the first member of the Delta rocket family, dating from 1960. The Delta II was the last of the Delta rockets to fly with hardware of direct descent to the original Thor ballistic missile.
ULA first assigned the Delta II to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex less than an hour after the last Delta II launch left the ground. The rocket was prepared by Penwal Industries for the outdoor display before being transported by truck nationwide. The first pieces arrived in Florida in late February.
“The coordination with ULA has just been excellent,” Protze said. “ULA has done an excellent job with their subcontractors to make the Delta II really shine in the rocket garden.”
“That blue rocket out there, it really changed the world,” Fortson said.