Turning green with envy as this is typed. }:-)><
spaceflightnow.com
It all begins with 1.9 million pounds of thrust powering the Delta 4-Heavy rocket ever so slowly off the ground, taking more than 15 seconds for the vehicle to clear the launch pad tower on three pillars of flame from the hydrogen-fueled engines.
“It’s a spectacular ascent...It has a thrust-to-weight ratio of about 1.2-to-1 coming off the pad. So you get a lot time to watch it as it rises up above the umbilical tower,” Planeaux said.