THEMIS/Delta II Assembly

THEMIS assembly and integration with the Delta II rocket.

THEMIS is a mission to investigate what causes auroras in the Earth's atmosphere to dramatically change from slowly shimmering waves of light to wildly shifting streaks of color. Auroras start when particles from the Sun bombard an electrical field surrounding the planet called the "magnetosphere." The influx of solar particles forces glowing electrons to rain down through the atmosphere and light up the sky. Discovering what causes auroras to change will provide scientists with important details on how the magnetosphere works and the important Sun-Earth connection.

The Delta II is designed to boost medium-sized satellites and robotic explorers into space. NASA selected a model 7925-10 for this mission, which is a three-stage rocket equipped with nine strap-on motors and a protective 10-foot payload fairing.

Launch is scheduled for 17th February 2007.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• THEMIS
• Delta
• II
• Assembly

[melfik]

really nice video, btw the delta II is realy huge :)

i wonder how huge really is the delta iv or altas v :D

[BrunoTheQuestionable]

Compared to the Delta II, the Delta IV is a real monster. I can't wait to see the new Ares V though !

[KASPLARFO]

VERY INTERESTING!

[NLonDS]

exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

[krayzgerman]

That's crazy.

[roeboat72]

Granted, the Delta II began operations in the late 80s to early 90s. Satellites were a little smaller back then. Now there is a need for bigger launchers that can carry more. That is also one of the reasons the shuttle is being done in for. It just has too small of a bay to launch any of the big satellites from, so that's why they use it solely for ISS construction and HST maintenance.

[HAL11000]

Wow. There small.

[WojciechSz]

Delta IV and Atlas V are much more powerful.

[admangcpp]

very cool!