D.3 Delta Launch and Performance History The Delta launch-vehicle family originated in 1959 with a NASA contract to Douglas Aircraft Company, now McDonnell Douglas Corporation. The Delta, using components form USAF's Thor IRBM program and USN's Vanguard launch-vehicle program, was operational 18 months later. On May 13, 1960, the first Delta was launched from Cape Canaveral with a 179-pound Echo-I passive communications satellite. In the intervening years, the Delta has evolved to meet the ever-increasing demands of its payloads - including weather, scientific, and communications satellites. Each Delta modification corresponded to an increase in payload capacity. Table 42 shows a summary of Delta configurations since the beginning of the program. 1101 The Delta 7925, the latest vehicle in the series, is a three-stage liquid-propellant vehicle with nine solid-propellant strap-on booster motors. For propellants, the Delta uses RP- 1 and liquid oxygen in Stage 1, and nitrogen tetroxide and aerozine 50 in Stage 2. Stage 3 consists of a Payload Assist Module (PAM) with a solid-propellant motor. The strap-on boosters are Hercules graphite epoxy motors (GEMs) using HTPB-type solid propellant. At liftoff, the liquid-propellant Stage-1 engine and six of the nine GEMs are ignited. The remaining three GEMs are ignited some 65 seconds later. Table 42. Summary of Delta Vehicle Configurations Configuration Description Delta Stg. 1: Modified Thor. MB-3 Blk I engine Stg. 2: Vanguard AJl0-118 propulsion system Stg. 3: Vanguard X-248 motor A Stg. 1: Erurine replaced with MB-3 Blk II B Stg. 2: Tanks lengthened; higher energy oxidizer used C Stg. 3: Replaced with Scout X-258 motor PLF: Bulbous replaced low drag D Stg. 0: Added 3 Thor-developed SRMs (Castor I) E Stg. 0: Castor II replaced Castor I Stg. 1: MB-3 Blk III replaced Blk II Stg. 2: Propellant tank diameters increased Stg. 3: Replaced with USAF-developed FW-4 motor PLF: Fairing enlarged to 65-inch diameter J Stg. 3: TE-364-3 used L,M,N Stg. 1: Tanks lengthened, RP-1 tank diameter increased Stg. 3: Varied: FW-4 (L), TE-364-3 (M), none (N) M-6, N-6 Stg. 0: Six Castor IIs employed 900 Stg. 0: No Castor Ils employed Stg. 2: Replaced with Transtage AJ10-118F engine 1604 Stg. 0: Six Castor IIs employed Stg. 3: Replaced with TE-364-4 9/10/96 133 RTI
Vision Description (EN)
Body page from section D.3 detailing Delta Launch and Performance History. The page presents historical information on the Delta launch-vehicle family, originating from a 1959 NASA contract with Douglas Aircraft Company. It describes the vehicle's evolution, first launch on May 13, 1960 with Echo-I satellite, and discusses the Delta 7925 configuration with nine solid-propellant strap-on booster motors. Table 42 occupies the lower half of the page, systematically listing Delta vehicle configurations from the base Delta model through variants A, B, C, D, E, J, L, M, N, M-6, N-6, 900, and 1604, with detailed stage-by-stage modifications and propellant specifications for each variant.
Descrição Vision (PT-BR)
Página de corpo da seção D.3 detalhando o histórico de lançamento e desempenho do Delta. A página apresenta informações históricas sobre a família de veículos de lançamento Delta, originária de um contrato da NASA de 1959 com a Douglas Aircraft Company. Descreve a evolução do veículo, primeiro lançamento em 13 de maio de 1960 com satélite Echo-I, e discute a configuração Delta 7925 com nove motores de impulsão sólida fixados. A Tabela 42 ocupa a metade inferior da página, listando sistematicamente as configurações de veículos Delta desde o modelo Delta base até as variantes A, B, C, D, E, J, L, M, N, M-6, N-6, 900 e 1604, com modificações estágio por estágio detalhadas e especificações de propelente para cada variante.