Delta 5000
![]() Launch of the Delta 5920 withCOBE | |
Function | Expendable launch system |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
Cost per launch | US$34.22 millionin 1985[1](US$79.99 millionin 2018) |
Size | |
Height | 34 m (112 ft) |
Diameter | 2.44 m (8 ft 0 in) |
Mass | 201,580 kg (444,410 lb) |
Stages | 2 |
Capacity | |
Payload toLEO | |
Mass | 3,848 kg (8,483 lb) |
Payload toGTO | |
Mass | 1,405 kg (3,097 lb) |
Associated rockets | |
Family | Delta |
Comparable | Delta 4000,Delta II |
Launch history | |
Status | Retired |
Launch sites | VandenbergSLC-2W |
Total launches | 1 |
Success(es) | 1 |
UTC date of spacecraft launch | 18 November 1989 |
Boosters –Castor 4A | |
No. boosters | 9 |
Height | 9.12 m (29.9 ft) |
Diameter | 1.02 m (3 ft 4 in) |
Empty mass | 1,529 kg (3,371 lb) |
Gross mass | 11,743 kg (25,889 lb) |
Powered by | Solid |
Maximum thrust | 478.3 kN (107,500 lbf) |
Specific impulse |
|
Burn time | 56 s |
First stage – Thor/Delta ELT | |
Height | 22.37 m (73.4 ft) |
Diameter | 2.44 m (8 ft 0 in) |
Empty mass | 4,360 kg (9,610 lb) |
Gross mass | 84,368 kg (186,000 lb) |
Powered by | 1RS-27 |
Maximum thrust | 1,030.2 kN (231,600 lbf) |
Specific impulse |
|
Burn time | 223 s |
Propellant | LOX/RP-1 |
Second stage –Delta K | |
Height | 5.89 m (19.3 ft) |
Diameter | 2.44 m (8 ft 0 in) |
Empty mass | 950 kg (2,090 lb) |
Gross mass | 6,954 kg (15,331 lb) |
Powered by | 1AJ10-118K |
Maximum thrust | 43.6 kN (9,800 lbf) |
Specific impulse | 319 s |
Burn time | 431 s |
Propellant | N2O4/Aerozine 50 |
TheDelta 5000 serieswas an Americanexpendable launch systemwhich was used to conduct anorbitallaunch in 1989. It was a member of theDeltafamily of rockets. Although several variants were put forward, only the Delta 5920 was launched. The designation used afour digit numerical codeto store information on the configuration of the rocket. It was built from a combination of spare parts left over from earlier Delta rockets, which were being retired, and parts from theDelta II6000-series, which was just entering service.
The first stage was theRS-27poweredExtended Long Tank Thor,flown on several earlier Delta rockets. NineCastor-4Asolid rocket boosterswere attached to increase thrust at lift-off, replacing the less powerfulCastor-4boosters used on the 3000 series. TheDelta-Kwas used as a second stage. In the configuration that was launched, no third stage was flown.
The Delta 5000 was launched just once, fromSpace Launch Complex 2Wat theVandenberg Air Force Base.Launch occurred at 14:34 on 18 November 1989. It was successful, and placed theCosmic Background Explorer(COBE) spacecraft intolow Earth orbit.[2][3]
Payload[edit]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/Cosmic_Background_Explorer_spacecraft_model.png/220px-Cosmic_Background_Explorer_spacecraft_model.png)
TheCosmic Background Explorer(COBE/ˈkoʊbi/KOH-bee), also referred to as Explorer 66, was aNASAsatellite dedicated tocosmology,which operated from 1989 to 1993. Its goals were to investigate thecosmic microwave background radiation(CMB or CMBR) of theuniverseand provide measurements that would help shape our understanding of thecosmos.
COBE's measurements provided two key pieces of evidence that supported theBig Bangtheory of the universe: that the CMB has a near-perfectblack-bodyspectrum,and that it has very faintanisotropies.Two of COBE's principal investigators,George F. SmootandJohn C. Mather,received theNobel Prize in Physicsin 2006 for their work on the project. According to the Nobel Prize committee, "the COBE project can also be regarded as the starting point forcosmologyas a precision science ".[4]
COBE was the second cosmic microwave background satellite, followingRELIKT-1,and was followed by two more advanced spacecraft: theWilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe(WMAP) operated from 2001 to 2010 and thePlanck spacecraftfrom 2009 to 2013.References[edit]
- ^"Delta 5000".Archived fromthe originalon September 16, 2016.
- ^Wade, Mark."Delta".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-07-24.
- ^Krebs, Gunter."Thor Family".Gunter's Space Page.Archivedfrom the original on 2007-08-06.Retrieved2021-12-21.
- ^"The Nobel Prize in Physics 2006".The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. 2006-10-03.Retrieved2011-08-23.