The Launch and Flight of the Mars Science Laboratory (aka Curiosity)

Here are my images of the Mars Science Laboratory launching and then leaving the Earth-Moon system on its way to Mars. I also calculated its orbital trajectory using the images and produced a short visualization of its flight using that data (it's easier to read the labels in HD).

www.youtube.com...

Nice work!

The full-res of the MSL heading-out really needs annotation. I could not identify it in that clip.

I liked the trajectory calibration. I've been wanting to know how to do that.

S & F

reply to post by ngchunter


You are the steely-eyed-missile-man!

I spent a bit of time this morning trying to find any hope concerning the Phobos-Grunt. No two articles say the same thing, so I don't know.

The window closes for the trans-Martian burn for the Russian mission very soon if it has not passed already.

reply to post by ngchunter


what camera are you using on your telescope?

reply to post by Hellhound604


For the LX200 used to photograph the launch I used a Canon XTi at prime focus. The GRAS-016 telescope used to track MSL is equipped with an SBIG ST-11000M with ABG.

reply to post by Saint Exupery


I added some youtube annotation to the full resolution images of MSL, hopefully that will help make it easier to see.

reply to post by ngchunter


It does!

Shear perfection...