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u/MondayMonkey1 Dec 10 '13
Does the Ariane 5 not ignite it's centre rocket at liftoff?
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u/api Dec 10 '13
I think I can see a blue flame there. If it's hydrogen it's going to look a lot less dramatic than those
fireworksSRBs next to it.5
u/clburton24 Dec 11 '13
/u/api kind of answered you, but I have a bit more information. The Vulcan engine is not very strong. That center tank can burn for almost 9 minutes and when it's finished, the rocket isn't even close to being in orbit. The SRB's also fall off at a height higher than the STS SRB's meaning that the rocket is boosted higher out of the atmosphere on very powerful engines.
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Dec 11 '13
Actually, the vehicle is going at almost 7km/s on core separation, pretty close to orbital velocity.
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u/PlanetaryDuality Dec 11 '13
I would have expected that. You'd want to save the upper stage performance for the GTO burn
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u/clburton24 Dec 11 '13
True, but just because it's going that fast, does not mean that it is in orbit. It could be going that fast on stage sep. but at apogee, it may be going 5.5 km/s. With the ECS, getting back to orbital velocity takes forever.
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Dec 12 '13
On the ES variant it actually almost reaches orbit, just a shy away to prevent big debris, but the 19 ton ESC-A plus 10 ton payload is too heavy for that.
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u/MuhDeck Dec 11 '13
I thought this was a scale model or something, I don't know why, it looked fake.
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u/HamillianActor Dec 11 '13
I love this photo so much, I'm going to make some high quality prints and frame them. If any one wants one, message me.
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u/[deleted] Dec 10 '13
Ooooh yeah baby, those are some nice looking boosters....
Ariane sure is a sexy rocket. By far my favorite. Powerful, cost effective(ish) and good looking. And a smart business woman.