Newest Mars Rover "Curiosity" Given a Go For Launch Saturday (Nov. 26) + Mission Overview

I think I failed to write in my OP what time the launch is tomorrow (Saturday), although the time was listed in one of the links. The Launch is at 10:30 am EST (15:30 UT), with NASA TV coverage beginning at 07:30 am EST (12:30 UT)


See it here:
www.nasa.gov...

or here:
mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

I was skimming through the JPL MSL website, and I found this interesting picture.

It is the MSL mated to its "space crane" being loaded into the aeroshell that will be the entry vehicle for entering Mars' atmosphere. In this image, the aeroshell is on the top, and the MSL is on the bottom (with its wheels still wrapped in protective mylar). The 4 brick-red nozzles are 4 of the engines of the "space crane" that will the MSL to the surcae on cables (see the video in the OP). I think there are 8 engine nozzles total -- the 4 we see plus 4 hidden on the other side.



Picture source
marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov...

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


I'm going to be watching the launch at the link, not live, though I still find it exciting to watch a launch like the last one I watched, the GRAIL mission. But this MSL 'Curiosity' mission is one of the most significant space endeavors to be launched since, well, JUNO, or New Horizons, or Cassini–Huygens, or Dawn, or well anyway I find them all fascinating and exciting to watch live.

The first Space Shuttle to launch after the Challenger disaster, the Discovery in 1988, we all watched at work on TV, literally months after I was hired and became a part of the NASA Safety Reporting System (NSRS) my employer managed from its conception. We sort of felt kind of part of it all. It was Business Confidential but I was able to find a website from a simple internet search engine. We were not able to rebid the contract in 1993, so we got a trinket gift from NASA at that announcement, but it was an exciting and interesting time of employment for me as we also sent a few zero gravity experiments on board the Shuttles as well, mostly material science studies.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


Check again; i'm 99% sure the launch window opens at 10:02 and that's when they're launching.

reply to post by ngchunter


Launch window and launch time are two different things. The launch window lasts until December 25th, and starts at that time in the a.m., which is where it seems to be two different launch times indicated.

I saw a 10:25 EST launch time noted there, and that is where Cape Canaveral is. It may not hurt to tune in around 10 a.m., if you don't want to miss it.

reply to post by Soylent Green Is People


No offence but I'll be watching it from here:

www.ustream.tv...

HD baby!

To clarify, there is one launch window each day between the 26th November and 18th December.

And each window has a specific amount of time allocated for that day, for example, today's window is 1 hour and 43 minutes.

mars.jpl.nasa.gov...

Launch time will be 10:02 EST

Not sure exactly why there are specific launch windows, possibly it is due to Florida's position in relation to Mars.

reply to post by Chadwickus


Imagine you're trying to throw a baseball through a hula hoop while riding a carousel.

reply to post by tjack


Yeah I guess you're pretty much right.

I just looked over the launch window schedule again and you can see as the days progress, the launch window gets smaller and smaller.

Still don't get this though:

Within each window, regardless of the length, unique launch opportunities will occur once every five minutes.

Just over a half hour away.... 10 minute planned hold will be at T-4min.

Apparently they are setting to launch at the first available window.

Originally posted by Chadwickus
reply to post by Soylent Green Is People

 

No offence but I'll be watching it from here:

www.ustream.tv...

HD baby!

Thanks!

I think, however, that the JPL link has UStream HD embedded in it.

MSL is now atop the Centaur Rocket cruise stage, which is about to shut down its initial burn after burning for 11 minutes (at about 10:13 am EST).

After that, the Centaur and MSL will be in a parking orbit around Earth for about 20 minutes until the second burn occurs, at about 10:33 EST. This second Centaur engine burn will be for about 8 minutes send the craft out of Earth's orbit and on to Mars.

4 minutes after that, the MSL probe will detach from the Centaur. At that time, the MSL "Curiosity" will be mostly coasting to Mars for the next 10 months under no rocket power at all, with only a few course correction burns along the way.

Atlas V 100% launch success ratio and counting. 10 minutes till 8-minute earth escape velocity burn of the Centaur upper stage.

Cruise stage separation from the Centaur upper stage (at about 10:46), and the MSL inside its cruise stage is on it's way to Mars.

I think it's amazing that the total amount of time that the engines burn to get this rover to Mars is only a little less than 20 minutes. 11 1/2 minutes of burn at launch + 8 minutes of burn to leave Earth's orbit.

The cruise stage has a very small amount of propellent (70 kg) to use for small course corrections over the next 10 month journey, but except for that, the MSL will just be coasting under no engine power whatsoever.


EDIT TO ADD:
Here is the cruise stage on its way to Mars, seconds after separating from the Centaur upper stage:

Spacecraft separation complete. MSL is now coasting to Mars. Another succesfull launch by the Atlas V rocket! Cant wait to see it launching crews...

Go, Curiosity!

Update:

Unlike the problems with the Phobos-Grunt probe last month, communications with the MSL cruise stage seem to be good, and the craft seems to be in good health.

"The launch vehicle has given us a great injection into our trajectory, and we're on our way to Mars," said MSL Project Manager Peter Theisinger of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "The spacecraft is in communication, thermally stable and power positive."

Link to story:
NASA Launches Most Capable and Robust Rover to Explore Mars

I'm having some trouble finding the speed the Centaur upper stage achieved earth escape velocity, only thing I found was 24,100 mph but that doesn't sound quite right, unless it got a 1,000 mph boost from going opposite earth rotation, which is what I thought EEV had to be.

Originally posted by Illustronic
reply to post by ngchunter

 

Launch window and launch time are two different things.

They usually target launch time at the start of each daily launch window, in case of problems to maximize time to resolve them, that's why I suggested it probably launched at 10:02. Such was the case today; 10:25 was in case they launched yesterday, but they bumped it to today a while ago.

Here are the images I took about 12 miles from the pad:
www.flickr.com...
www.flickr.com...
www.flickr.com...
www.flickr.com...
Unfortunately clouds obscured the interesting moment of booster sep and fairing sep, but hopefully it will clear up tonight when I try to track and image the MSL on its way to mars as it heads out of the earth-moon system.

reply to post by ngchunter


Would have been tipping one with you then, maybe a Mimosa or something. The Russian Phobos Grunt got me a bit nervous during this perfect launch I might add, I'm not sure why either, this is an old school launch vehicle(s).

reply to post by ngchunter



I know you love doing that stuff.
But still..Thanks for providing us with the fruits of your own labor..
Those are great images considering your 12 mile distance!

reply to post by Illustronic

Not quite that fast, but pretty close. The Atlas does most of the work, the Centaur just gives a 24,000 pound nudge out of Earth Orbit.

By that point, 43 minutes after liftoff for the first Nov. 25 opportunity at the opening of the launch window, the two stages of the Atlas have accelerated the spacecraft to about 22,866 miles per hour (10.22 kilometers per second) relative to Earth. Shortly after that, the separated Centaur performs its last task, an avoidance maneuver taking itself out of the spacecraft’s flight path to avoid hitting either the spacecraft or Mars.

www.jpl.nasa.gov...