Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The initial movement by which or the instant in which a rocket or other such craft commences flight.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Rocketry) the initial ascent of a rocket from its launching pad.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The point in the
launch of arocket or anaircraft where it leaves contact with the ground.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb depart from the ground
- noun the initial ascent of a rocket from its launching pad
Etymologies
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Examples
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The earliest the shuttle could be ready for liftoff is June 17, however there is a conflict on that date with the scheduled launch of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
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But, consider this, the first time an ascent stage fails after liftoff from the lunar surface is the last trip to the moon for quite some time.
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The earliest the shuttle could be ready for liftoff is June 17, however there is a conflict on that date with the scheduled launch of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter/Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
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In the current lunar lander ascent configuration, if your primary ascent stage fails after liftoff from the lunar surface but before you make it safely to lunar orbit, then landing the aborted vehicle with the engines failed or something else gone haywire so a pre-positioned unmanned vehicle can come to your rescue, is fatal 100% of the time since the landing of a crewed vehicle requires a working non-aborted system.
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Ann Kellan there in Atlanta on the Titan 4 liftoff from a short time ago.
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Twenty-plus years of covering the space program and I come to learn that it's not the awe-striking power of the explosion hopefully controlled known as the liftoff that poses the chief danger to shuttle astronauts -
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Twenty-plus years of covering the space program and I come to learn that it's not the awe-striking power of the explosion hopefully controlled known as the liftoff that poses the chief danger to shuttle astronauts -
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In the weak, graying sky, Maia saw the blinking lights of aircraft in liftoff.
Maia in Yonkers 2007
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In the weak, graying sky, Maia saw the blinking lights of aircraft in liftoff.
Maia in Yonkers 2007
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Twenty-plus years of covering the space program and I come to learn that it's not the awe-striking power of the explosion hopefully controlled known as the liftoff that poses the chief danger to shuttle astronauts -
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