The Rise of Vulcan: ULA's answer to Spacex

Hi Spacecats, I'm Dr Maggie Lieu and welcome to my channel, where you can find all things space, astronomy and physics! In this video we delve into the world of space exploration with the much-anticipated Vulcan launch. Set to challenge SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, Vulcan represents a significant leap in heavy-lift space technology. 🌌

🌕 We’ll explore everything about the United Launch Alliance's (ULA) latest marvel - the Vulcan rocket. From its intricate design to its ambitious mission of carrying Astrobiotic's Peregrine lunar lander to the Moon, and all of it's DHL parcels on board. We cover it all. Get ready to be part of this historic moment in space exploration happening on January 8th, 2024.

✨ What's Inside:
Vulcan's Journey: From Concept to Launch Pad

Peregrine Lunar Lander: Aiming for the Moon
Technical Showdown: Vulcan vs Falcon Heavy
The Future of Space Travel: What Vulcan Means for Us
Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser and Vulcan's Role

Links:

Media credits:
Falcon9: Spacex
Vulcan Centaur videos: ULA
Peregrine Lander images/video: Astrobiotic
Falcon Heavy image: PM3 (based on work of Lucabon, Markus Säynevirta, Craigboy and Rressi)
Vulcan image: ULA
Falcon Heavy landing: Spacex

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[floridafamilyfun]

My husband helped launch Vulcan this morning! Such an exiting rocket and mission! Thanks for the video!

[CarbonCopy]

Cheers for the video… very helpful 👍👍👍

[Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

Dr. Maggie: If I remember correctly, the _"Ranger"_ missions in the early 1960s were DESIGNED to crash on the Moon.

Or more specifically they were not equipped to soft-land on the Moon.

The later _"Surveyor"_ probes did soft-land.

[samedwards]

Thanks so much for creating and sharing this informative and timely video. Great job. Keep it up. 😺

[AquarianSoulTimeTraveler]

Very enjoyable... thanks for the information as always... ur the best and the universe appreciates everything you do!

[Petertronic]

I saw the Vulcan launch, all looked awesome. I like the new Space kitty logo (not so much the sound effects) 😺

[countmorbid]

Dream chaser might shift the balance a bit to ULA. I sure hope they can make it compete with spacex in the nearby future.
Centaur launch was a success ....

[garyfilmer]

Thank you for the great video, Dr Maggie Lieu. Hoping the Peregrine lander can touch down on the moon safely, without falling into that nearby crater! We need more missions to the moon, and more manned missions too. The reasons I am going to cite are not the usual ones: to inspire and encourage the younger generation, and to help with their education, to promote an enquiring mind, and a mind which can do research and analyse data. I say this because it’s truly shocking to me, how so many younger people don’t believe that astronauts have ever landed on the moon, and the susceptibility of some younger people not to believe in things which are truthful ‘facts’. I look back on the Apollo missions not only with nostalgia for that period, but because I remember the Apollo missions well, and because they were also a great service to educating people about science, and inspiring people to learn. I believe that science education helps people to look at other subjects more rationally too, and helps prevent them from easily believing in things which are bogus.

[Travlinmo]

That was interesting. The title made me think this may be negative on SpaceX or FH, but was not. The miss here, possibly, is on payload diameter/faring size? I wish Vulcan success but it’s really just going to be for DoD launches using US instead of Russian rockets, IMO.

[chrisdiscenza]

Great video. Thanks for the comparison. I was wondering if the launch tonight will be as impressive as the falcon heavy launch last week. I’m in Orlando so I might stay up and watch it.

[theunknownunknowns]

Yeah moon stuff is ramping up. How's your going to space endeavour going Dr Maggie Lieu?

[Bartko-rqpx]

Love your channel. Looking UP for your next brilliant video!

[AndersWelander]

I had no knowledge about Vulcan or the funny moon mission. Nice

[glassfasterfirst]

So glad you got your audio issues all sorted now 😂

[_ShaDynasty]

They don't really compare, falcon will dominate because it's reusable, but it's good to see some others players in the game.

[russbetts]

Thank you for this very informative video. My only complaint about it, are those two black hairs on your jumper, over your Left brest. Presentation is everything. Russ. UK

[theOrionsarms]

The price of 97 million dollars is for reuseble falcon heavy, that could only put 30 tons into LEO and 8, 2 to GTO, for comparison the heavyer version of Vulcan can deliver 27, 2 into LEO and 15, 3to GTO, only non reuseble version of falcon heavy can beat Vulcan on high energy orbit, and that is more expensive and can be builded only in limited numbers.

[patricklewis]

You didn't me tonight the fairing size. That giant fairing and the ratio of performance first to second stage is what Space Force want and are planning around. Vulcan will have its customers.
Edit: What on earth happened to my first sentence?

[theemissary]

Given mr. musk's performance and behaviour in recent years, i wouldn't be surprised if he started getting removed from the director boards of some of his companies. So, while space x may be in the lead currently, there's no guarantee that will always be the case. Plus he could repeat his twitter move when he made the code public domain. Whatever the outcome, so long as these companies can get things to space and do it safely, all else is just drama.

[husk]

Really nice video! you have become the main source of space news for me! i also like the new look and the new cat in spacesuit logo!! looking forward to your next video!! 🐱🚀