Following final confirmation of rocket and payload readiness,
2 GEM 63 XL solid rocket boosters and twin BE4
engines produce more than
£1.7 million of thrust to lift UL as Vulcan rocket
away from Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41.
Shortly after liftoff, the rocket begins a pitch over to
attain the proper flight path while minimizing the dynamic pressure
it experiences during flight.
Vulcan then reaches Mach 1,
the speed of sound, with the ability to add 2,
four or six solid rocket boosters or SRBS.
Vulcan can be precisely configured to take any mission to
space,
from low Earth orbit to Pluto and beyond.
These boosters augment the rocket's total thrust at liftoff,
adding approximately
460,000 lbs of thrust per SRB
with their propellant expired approximately 90 seconds into ascent.
The Sr. BS burnout followed by jettison
jettison time is variable, occurring between 100 and
150 seconds after liftoff, depending on mission requirements.
Vulcan's guidance system then activates to steer towards the precise
target in space.
First stage flight continues as the rocket crosses the Carmen
line,
entering space with the majority of repellant expended as Vulcan
fights against the force of gravity.
EE 4 engines shut down
and the booster stage separates
with the rocket now weighing less than 10%
of what it did at liftoff.
Dual RL10C engines on ULA Centaur upper stage ignite.
Spacecraft are encapsulated inside a
5.4 meter diameter payload fairing,
which provides A protective environment during ascent.
Following Centaur engine ignition, the payload fairing is jettisoned.
With the first burn complete,
the Centaur engine shuts down for a coast phase.
Centaur flies a short, medium,
or long coast, which is determined by launch day.
Further into flight, Centaur ignites for a second burn,
powering the vehicle into a translunar injection orbit.
Following the second main engine cut off,
ULA Centaur places Astrobotic's Peregrine lunar Lander into a highly
elliptical orbit more than
220,000 miles above Earth, where it will intercept the Moon.
Following delivery of the Peregrine spacecraft,
Centaur comes alive for a third and final burn to
reach a heliocentric orbit around the Sun.
Centaur completes the SERP 1 mission by carrying
Celestus's Memorial Space Flight payload into deep space
known as the Enterprise Flight.
This mission includes 234 flight capsules containing cremated remains,
DNA samples and messages of greetings from clients worldwide on
an endless journey in interplanetary space beyond the Earth Moon
system
to orbit the Sun forever.