Ah--that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-7 was Sally Ride's (the first American woman astronaut's) first flight, and one of the first--if not THE first--times that geosynchronous communications satellites were deployed from the orbiter (and the free-flying, returnable SPAS satellite photographed Challenger in space).

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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NAR #54895 SR

My contrail is bigger than your contrail!

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I love sanding.

One of the SpaceX launches not too long ago was launched just before sunrise. It reached an altitude where the sun light hit it at just about the time that the second stage ignited. It created quite a show. It looked like a Hubble photo of a nebula.

I sometimes think of giant jellyfish when I see those shots.

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I love sanding.

And even better, it is where I met my bride of 37 years........

About the only thing bigger--besides the never-flown 156-inch Titan III motors--was the smoke trail left by each of the (three in total, I think it was) "short-length" 260-inch diameter solid motors that were static fired at Brunswick, Georgia and in Dade County, Florida, but they weren't flying either... :-)

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Finally got this one off yesterday! Kudos to Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital ATK) for a successful debut of the GEM63 SRB!

Great pics here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulala...57715620148983/

I like those--they show LC-41 and the a-building-through-launched vehicle from angles and under lighting conditions not often shown in the "standard" photographic coverage. Solar depression angle launches (with the Sun below the horizon in the early evening or morning, so that its rays catch the ascending vehicle and its exhaust plume) are my favorite, and ULA did not disappoint! I wonder:

Apparently the SPARK / Super Strypi launch vehicle (which failed during its one launch so far: https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...&sclient=psy-ab ) is being continued, by a firm called X-Bow Launch Systems http://xbowsystems.com/ in Albuquerque, New Mexico; might its first stage be a GEM63? (If Aerojet no longer makes that size motor, that is--I *think* the initial SPARK vehicle used a GEM63 [although it may have been a somewhat smaller solid motor, but it was an Aerojet-made motor].)

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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
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All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

SPARK used a GEM46 in the first stage. GEM46 was the SRB on Delta III and on the so-called "Delta II Heavy."

If somebody wanted to build a SPARK around GEM63, they'd likely have to build a new rail launcher. According to a Sandia National Labs website, the biggest rail at Barking Sands/PMRF is only a 20K. A GEM63 alone weighs over 50 tons!

Ah--that sounds more like it; Thank You. Japan has flown simple, "canted fins spin-stabilized" all-solid propellant satellite launch vehicles (having three and four stages) of comparable size in their M (Mu) series; the first and second stages of the Mu-4 and Mu-3 (the number denoting the total number of stages [the Mu-4S flew before the M-3 variants]: http://www.astronautix.com/m/mu.html ) were 1.41 m (4.62') in diameter, comparable to the GEM63. But:

The Mu launcher, as shown here https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/japan_s_...detail/mu.shtml , was *very* heavily-constructed, in order to lift and properly tilt & orient the vehicles for accurate initial ascent trajectories. The early Mu vehicles (like the pioneering Lambda-4S-5, carrier of Japan's first satellite, Ohsumi [see: https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/e/japan_s_history/detail.shtml ]) were spin-stabilized and utilized the gravity turn technique to curve over into orbit, which made them more sensitive to the wind. The finless upper stages retained the spin imparted to them by the canted-fins-equipped first stage; after the penultimate (next-to-last) stage burned out, the final stage and the attached satellite(s) were de-spun by thrusters in a small jettison-able service module. Then the stack was re-aimed (for maximum orbital injection accuracy) by radio, the final stage ignition timer was re-set (if needed) for maximum accuracy, and the stack was re-spun by thrusters. The service module separated at final stage ignition.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR