First Launch

Delta II rocket lifts off carrying Phoenix Mars explorer

This morning ULA launched their first rocket since I started there on Monday. The Delta II rocket left Cape Canaveral carrying the Phoenix Mars Explorer. The mission is to land near the North Pole of Mars and look for water ice below the soil. The Phoenix is scheduled to land on Mars in May of next year. It will survive there for the Martian summer before it freezes in a solid shell of carbon-dioxide ice during the brutal winter.

The first week of work was pretty slow, but now I am moved in and have stuff set up. The highlight was taking a two day class on the Atlas V rocket. I learned lots of neat stuff like; the Atlas V 551 generates the power of 13 Hoover dams for the 4 minutes following takeoff. Unfortunately, I can't share most of the cool stuff I learn at work, because my blog is public and some N. Korean rocket scientist could be reading.