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ULA concluded six decades of Delta rocket flights with final Delta 4 Heavy mission

One of Americas most powerfulandexpensivecommercially made space launch vehicles is flying into the sunset.

April 9th 2024 marked the swan song for Delta IV Heavy, a heavy-lift launcher headed for retirement. The spacecraft was built by United Launch Alliance (ULA)a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeingand is considered one of the most prolific in U.S. history.

Delta IV Heavy, standing 235 feet tall, is part of ULAs Delta family of rockets, which along with its Atlas family is used primarily by the U.S. government. Tuesdays launch was conducted in partnership with the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), which is responsible for designing, building, launching and maintaining U.S. intelligence satellites.

At the time of its retirement, Delta IV Heavy is the third-highest capacity launch vehicle in operation, after NASAs Space Launch System (SLS) and SpaceXs Falcon Heavy.

Delta rockets have ferried NASAsSpirit and Opportunityrovers and other missions to Mars,launched probesthat touched the sun, and evencarried outthe first orbital test flight ofNASAs Orion capsule. Orion will ferry astronauts around the moon and back during NASAs Artemis II mission in 2025.

Deltas successor, Vulcan, is less expensive than both it and Atlas V, the most recent addition to the Atlas family. It is designed primarily for the National Security Space Launch program. But ULA is also collaborating Vulcan launches with AmazonsProject Kuiperand other commercial customers.

SIGNED APOLLO 14 BETA CLOTH PATCH

ASTRONAUT FRED HAISE

This exquisite NASA-printed Apollo 14 Beta cloth patch was signed by astronaut Fred Haise in response to Al Shepard's historic golf shot on the moon. "That looked like a slice to me, Al." The Apollo 14 cloth patch reads: My capcom response to Al's golf shot on the moon...

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