Soaring Eagle cadets watch the LAST Delta IV Heavy launch. | Air Force ROTC Det 157 Commander

Launch Countdown: TSgt Dean Watlington

The ULA (United Launch Alliance) launched its final Delta IV Heavy rocket into orbit last week, ending the Delta rocket's history of sending payloads into space since the 1960’s. The Delta IV Heavy launched many significant payloads during its operating years, like NASA’s Orion spacecraft and Parker Solar Probe, and it was once the most powerful rocket in terms of launch mass. ULA is now focusing on their new Vulcan rocket which successfully launched for the first time last year. | Stardome Obse

Mechagodzilla catches rocket

A Delta IV rocket, carrying the Parker Solar Probe, lifts off from launch complex 37 at the Kennedy Space Center, Sunday, Aug. 12, 2018, in Cape Canaveral, Fla. The Parker Solar Probe will venture closer to the Sun than any other spacecraft and is protected by a first-of-its-kind heat shield and other innovative technologies that will provide unprecedented information about the Sun.