The first production unit of the Boeing Delta IV
Common Booster Core (CBC) was unloaded from the Delta Mariner vessel
here this morning.
The CBC recently completed a series of critical hot fire tests at
NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The final test firing on
May 6 ran for 303 seconds and completed a Delta IV Heavy mission
profile simulation for the rocket’s first stage. Having completed this
rigorous test program, the first production unit will now be used to
verify the structural and mechanical interfaces between the launch
vehicle and the launch site. This will greatly reduce the schedule
risk when the first flight booster arrives here this fall.
After arrival at Cape Canaveral, the fully integrated CBC was
transported aboard the Elevating Platform Transporter for the trip to
the Delta Horizontal Integration Facility (HIF) at Space Launch
Complex 37. After the launch team uses it to verify operations in the
HIF, the CBC will be transported to the launch pad for further
verification testing this summer.
Photos of the CBC at Cape Canaveral can be found at:
www.boeing.com/companyoffices/gallery/images/space/delta_iv/delta_
iv_cbc.htm.
The Boeing Company, with headquarters in Seattle, is the largest
aerospace company in the world and the United States’ leading
exporter. It is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial
jetliners and military aircraft, and the largest NASA contractor. The
company’s capabilities in aerospace also include rotorcraft,
electronic and defense systems, missiles, rocket engines, launch
vehicles, and advanced information and communication systems. The
company has an extensive global reach with customers in 145 countries
and manufacturing operations throughout the United States, Canada and
Australia.
