Most space missions require rockets to be launched at high speeds to overcome Earth’s gravity and reach their destination. All launch vehicles, with the exception of partially reusable space shuttles, are expendable launch vehicles (ELV).
Propellers make up the bulk of a rocket’s mass; fuel and oxidizer must combine to power its flight upward. What goes up must come down, though.
Countdown
Space launches are complex processes involving many departments working together to prepare and initiate procedures at precisely the right moments. A countdown serves to coordinate these activities so everything goes as planned. Beginning with “T-minus” time – usually around four and a half minutes until liftoff – and running minute by minute thereafter, all activities converge toward liftoff. This official countdown clock also serves to communicate its progress to its participants through daily announcements such as T-minus time announcements every minute or so.
The countdown clock, often referred to as the “mission clock,” keeps track of events such as Max-Q, stage separations and other key milestones. Media use this mission clock for reporting purposes on its progress during countdown time at NASA’s LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center.
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Preparation
Launching a spacecraft requires extensive preparations. Years are dedicated by engineers in designing, creating and testing both the spacecraft and rocket prior to their liftoff from Earth. When all systems pass inspection, non-essential personnel may be evacuated up until one day prior to liftoff as preparations continue for its final stage of countdown.
The spacecraft’s payload – its income stream – consists of cargo, scientific instruments and depending on its mission profile structures for surviving reentry into another planetary body’s atmosphere or landing on an asteroid, comet or planet surface. These must also withstand loads imposed during transit through atmospheric and space environments as well as thermal control subsystems capable of operating effectively when encountering plasmas.
Launch vehicles are loaded with fuel and oxidizer for use in their main engines before being prepared to rollout to their pads, known as launch campaigns. This process generally takes days or weeks of work to complete depending on weather conditions; most spacecraft launch campaigns take place either at Europe’s spaceport at Kourou in French Guiana or Russia’s Baikonur Cosmodrome or Plesetsk locations.
Launch
Spacecraft are vehicles designed to travel through outer space with or without humans aboard. Their purpose can vary, from communications and Earth observation to meteorology, navigation and planetary exploration as well as transportation of cargo or people into outer space. Many different manufacturers create spacecraft for NASA as well as private companies and agencies.
At liftoff, a rocket’s main engine ignites, creating thrust which propels it and its payload away from its launch pad. Once launched, it travels at speeds up to 17,800 miles per hour with gravity pulling it downward. But this propulsion generated by its engines far outstrips this force!
As soon as the launch window opens, a rocket is fueled with propellants and spacecraft are attached to its upper stage in an orderly fashion. Prep work for final preparations must take place in a clean-room environment while protective covers known as fairings are hoisted onto each stack for transport into space. Depending on its mission requirements, additional components like avionics systems may also be necessary, including navigation systems to track where its location lies in space.