ULA engineer checking in here, wish us luck! 🚀

Update for you Scott: Monday's launch was a good day. The count was very clean and quiet. At one point, I thought my headset might be broken because there was literally no chatter on the net at all. In fact, I wasn't joking when I said that our biggest concern during the count was when the coffee maker in Launch Control failed. And yes, it was a valve... There was a ECS reading that we fussed around with for a bit, mostly because we got bored. It really did feel more like a 90th Atlas mission, than a first launch. We lifted off right at the open of the window. This was also fortunate because the weather had been iffy the day before and was completely unacceptable for launch the very next day, Tuesday. For once, the weather gods were on our side. The flight was nominal and delivered a perfect bullseye insertion. To have such a clean mission on a first flight is somewhat unheard of. I've personally done around three dozen first flights and never really had one go quite this smoothly before. Obviously, having conducted a couple of WDRs and an FRF helped, but still remarkable... Vulcan performed beautifully. Once we separated Peregrine and completed the heliocentric burn for the Celestis Enterprise mission, there were big smiles, handshakes, hugs, and even a few tears of joy, all around. Sadly, our initial jubilation at getting comms with Peregrine was later dampened upon the discovery of their propulsion anomaly. We made our facility available for their anomaly team since their key people were all out in Florida for the launch. I also got several of our engineers out of bed and brought them back in, including Chris Deel our head of Engineering, in case we could be of any assistance. The Astrobotic team, who by now had been up for at least 24 hours, worked very hard to understand the situation and make the best of it. As you will see in their communications, science will still happen, as well as a fitting memorial for that element of their mission. I have no doubt they will bounce back on their next bird. For the ULA team, this was an incredibly important and successful flight. It was the culmination of no small measure of blood, sweat, and heart. Nine hard years of transforming ULA, overcoming countless challenges of E-V-E-R-Y kind, and the development of a new heavy class space launch vehicle were finally, ultimately successful. I've decided that I might take part of today off... We are already well underway with preparations for the CERT2 launch. See you then.

As everyone knows, adding flame decals to your rocket increases the atmospheric specific impulse by at least 2.25-4.6 percent

I was one of propulsion engineers who developed the Delta IV CBC. We were Rockwell Space Shuttle MPS engineers who formed a team to help McDonnell Douglas develop the EELV DIV. After Boeing bought MDC and Rockwell, some of the engineers moved to Denver to work for the ULA joint venture. I stayed in HB and worked on the development of the SLS Booster and EUS but have kept in contact with some of the ULA folks. I wish the best of luck to M.Peller and company! Onward and upward!

I just watched a video by Scott from 10 years ago and i can't help but point out the fact that he has maintained literally the same look all the while.

Machinist for GE Aerospace here, and I really enjoyed seeing some very cool machining processes in this video, thanks for that.

Thanks for showing the manufacturing sequences. Enjoy seeing most things being made.

The section around 4:30 makes me think, could we have a video on rocket profiles? Some are long and skinny, others are short and fat; some are mostly cylindrical, while others are almost conical. I find it particularly notable that now all the stages have (mostly) the same diameter, but decades ago they got narrower as they went up the rocket. What are the design considerations that go into this? I imagine it's a combination of aerodynamics (to have both low drag and high stability) and maximising the wet volume / dry mass ratio, while keeping to various logistical considerations, but I'm sure there's a lot more to say!

Tory Bruno was possibly the very best decision ULA ever made.

This "fly safe" is probably the most consequential ever uttered by Scott 😂😂

Thank you for all the work you've done on this channel!!! I found you during covid have learned so much! So thankful for your work!

Amazing how far we've come! My father used to chrome plate parts for Apollo missions and the US Navy.

Congrats to ULA on their successful Vulcan Centaur launch yesterday 🎉 (at last!). Thank you Scott for another excellent history lesson.

Shelby is the person most responsible for delays in getting cheap access to space.

Thanks for the update Scott!

Great video Scott, the clips from the factory are an awesome addition.

So excited! As one of the programmers of the IRIS moon rover payload on Peregrine I can't wait to see it launch!

Former ULA employee here. Very good video!

Faantastic first launch rundowwn. Been very excitedd for this one for a while now.

Than k you, Scott, for that very through preview of ULA's Vulcan.

The longer I live (and I was born in 1954 and "grew up" with the space race), the more impressed I am that NASA managed to put men on the moon, per JFK's schedule, back in the sixties, and the more doubtful I become that I will live long enough to see another human set foot on the lunar surface. I hope I'm wrong!

Thanks Scott for showing and explaining the Vulcan Rocket and VLA.

Destin from Smarter Everyday visiting ULA is a MUST see. That was really amazing.

Great overview. Thanks Scott!

I see ULA is using a Cincinnati Milacron machine to make the large panels. Cincinnati Milicron went out of business decades ago, wonder where they get parts for such an old machine or find anyone who knows how to program it! Also proves CM made some very durable machines.

ULA Tech checking in. I gotta be there at 1:30am for pad re-entry. I can't sleep, I'm too excited!

Very informative video. Thanks Scott.

The paintjob was my favourite bit of the factory/rollout video too.

Launch news about to become a tongue twister between Vulcan and Falcon.

watched the ULA launch last night...very cool. Now ULA and Blue Origin needs to have quick turn around times. Let's see what happens...good luck to ULA and I feel kind of sorry for ULA having to depend on Blue Origin or engines.

Most informative. Thank you.

Scott and ULA, y'all rock! Peace ✌️

Is that a LEGO set between the shuttle and your laptop Scott? Looks like a satellite! I'm looking forward to the launch tomorrow as well, and wish ULA success!

Smarter Every Day did a factory tour with Tory Bruno showing a lot of the structures and construction in more detail. Fantastic video.

SmarterEveryDay had a great video on ULA

Vulcan booster with NASA worm paint job would look sick

ULA: I built a new rocket to complete with SpaceX. Padme: It's cheaper, right? ULA: Padme: It's cheaper, right?

Luv your videos Scott.

Important Intro. Great recap. Thank you Sir. Scott @TonyBrumo is a Gem

Thanks for this informative video! I'm learning after the fact, but it's still learning. As we know, Vulcan Centaur launched perfectly, so that's great news for ULA. I hope this leads to a great future for their company. It's too bad about the Peregrine lander, but whatever happened there probably isn't because of the launch vehicle.

I can't wait to watch this Vulcan launch tomorrow morning. This is not a particularly big rocket but it's heavy lift capabilities are surprisingly high and that's to HEO and GSO-TO

Smarter Everyday has an awesome cover of the factory with Tory Bruno guiding Destin around! Truly awesome video!

Three minutes in, and I'm reminded that "this is why I watch". After quite a few years now. So thanks for being there Scott: 'keep up the good work' is trite, but meaningful. : )

This thing had better work. ULA is all in since they shut down Atlas production, and the USA in general currently has only one working launch provider, SpaceX. Personally I think it would've been a good idea to hedge our bets and fund an engine swap for Atlas as well as Vulcan.

I know I'm not the only one, anxiously waiting for Scott to figure out, then report what has happened to Perigrine. Take your time.

Helped build the engines from Huntsville! Good Luck!

Thanks Scott. Fly Safe and Keep the Dirty Side Down.

Just watched launch. Lift off looked pretty clean. Fast, no wobbling.

Excited to watch this launch, as well as celebrating as a proud employee of DHL their first delivery to the moon. Amongst the many moon boxes will be a piece of Mt Everest collected by astronaut Scott Parazynski. Good luck ULA!

Another top episode, mate. I only wish I could get my best Scott Manley impersonation across the text. 🖖

i listen to all your videos because of that great intro music!!!! ♥

The video showing various stages of rocket production was fascinating. Best wishes to ULA for tomorrow's launch!

The rocket was absolutely flawless, however the Peregrine lander has a fuel leak and won't be landing on the Moon (at least, not in one piece)

Thank you for the info and THEY DID ITTTT🎉🎉🎉🚀🚀🚀🚀🚀

For me, the big news today is that BE-4s flew! Holy sh##!!

Shark teeth! I'd love to see that!

Great info!! And all the best to ULA for Successful launch of Vulcan👍 Hey Scott I have a recommendation don't know if majority will agree or not but Can you please make such informative videos for Landspace's Zhuque, Skyroot Aerospace's Vikram and Perigee Aerospace's Blue Whale.

14:44 Lol that scott manley reply to elon musk in the bottom right 😅 well played

9:18 that does look pretty bad ass that landscape design

You miss those days where there were shark teeth or fire on the sides of rockets. I suppose you miss the Chris Foss days. Well, I do to miss those days!

An important and capable launch vehicle. If they can successfully reuse the engines in the future and ramp up production to cover the high demand then I could see it doing well.

Very good video! I hope they will try to make it reusable sooner than later!!

Waited til the final hours for this one.

GO Vulcan!

Vulcan and Falcon sounds so similar when said out loud, it irritates me...

I remember watching an old video with someone (maybe Destin?) That went to ULA and they were very excited about their new upcoming rocket. I suppose thats the Vulcan? Cool!

Lucky you get to watch it on the west coast. I got to set an alarm at 2 AM in a snow storm.

Scott's got a cool accent but i cant tell the difference between vulcan and falcon! Its my ears im sure.

Regarding the sale of ULA: 1. Whomever buys thrm should keep the name because it's catchy. 2. Taking a deal with Cerberus would be signing their own death warrant.

All the various people who worked on this (or something similar) chiming in in the comments is so cool!

Scott says Vulcan eerily like Falcon. I was like: Falkan, what rocket is that? :D

Vulcan might not be doing propulsive, complete recovery, but SMART is definitely going to be awesome to see if anyone can get a tracking camera on it out over the ocean...

5:00 "You machine a structure that is strong and resistant to bending"... ... "Then you bend it into shape"...

Thanks, Scott! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

Let's see it fly!

I suspected that the beautiful flame livery on the Vulcan booster would be discontinued after the first launch. I remember how NASA stopped painting the external tanks of the Space Shuttle after the first few launches. The weight penalty of hundreds of pounds of crisp, white paint that would just burn up on reentry didn't make sense. However, I have wondered if the paint layer on the external tank might have reduced the amount of insulation that came off the tank on ascent, perhaps preventing the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.

Excellent briefing Scott

It did the thing! Thanks for the engines Jeff!

Thanks Scott! 🙂🙂😎😎🤓🤓🤓

Thanks!

And off she went. Watched it live. Congratulations to @ULA, it was a tremendous success, if a few years behind schedule. Most of the delays were not, as you said, due to anything ULA could have done differently. Probably at least 3 years delay due to BO being so late with engines. Surprisingly, the engines performed well, seemed to anyhow. They don't show nice telemetry data like they do on SpaceX launches. Maybe in the future...

You let out the most important reason for Vulcan. The USA LAW DEMANDED that all government payloads must fly on USA rockets with USA engines. So no matter if RD180’s were available or not the military payloads ie:NRO and Space Force could only use SpaceX USA rockets. That was a law and not a suggestion. Then the be4 was a non starter and the NRO or government kept reducing the minimum number of launches by the Vulcan before it could launch military satellites. ULA should have been required to fly all the flights, it’s just 3 or something like that anyway, even if they only flew mass simulators. Determined reliability requirements shouldn’t be reduced just because an independent company (propped up by the government just as you said) can’t make good engineering or business decisions even if the decision was a dilemma.

Launch was impressive

Lol Blue Origin like “ah fuck it Jeff’s rich… let’s just buy an orbital rocket.”

06:23 What did they blur out there? The orange color reminds me of an KUKA robot.

They build these right down the road from me in Decatur, AL.

Discarding those beautifully machined alloy panels makes me wince.

At 0:47 I had to chuckle at "shotgun wedding," I started calling ULA that somewhere around 2008.

I know that there was a list of Emergency / Backup Runways that the Shuttles could have used all around the word is that still the case for dream chaser? Same list, just an updated one or is Dream Chaser restricted to just one place?

The landing ashes on the moon thing is alright, but what about intentionally re-entering them so you can wish on your loved one’s remains as a shooting star

All the best wishes for Tory Bruno and ULA!

Success!

And with this, BOs engines may finally fly further than spacex's launch pad.

Is it reusable? Can it land? How about the cost, have they worked on lower cost, by reducing the beauracracy?

You know what Scott? I f&$@ing like your channel🤟Let's go!!

Having more competition would be nice.

Hydrolox/Metholox/ Solid Rocket - this Frankenstein complicates everything!

Be4 is my biggest concern

This will not save ULA, but still a great launch. Congrats!

Every time you say "Tory Bruno", I can't help hearing "Torrebruno", the singer 😀