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Author
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Topic: Mars Orbiter To Launch
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spaceuk
Member Posts: 2112
From: Staffs,UK
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted August 09, 2005 04:30 PM
  
The Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) to launch 10 August IP: Logged |
Ben
Member Posts: 1706
From: Daytona Beach, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted August 09, 2005 08:03 PM
NET the 11th now. Problems with a backup gyro on the Atlas 5 have prompted testing.IP: Logged |
tegwilym
Member Posts: 1709
From: Renton, WA USA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted August 10, 2005 12:55 PM
Are you going to be at this launch Ben?IP: Logged |
Philip
Member Posts: 3326
From: Brussels, BELGIUM
Registered: Jan 2001
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posted August 11, 2005 06:17 AM
Exciting !!!
High Resolution cameras and MRO will be the first government payload to launch on the Lockheed Martin Atlas V launch vehicle.
;-) http://mars-literature.skynetblogs.be/ IP: Logged |
Ben
Member Posts: 1706
From: Daytona Beach, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted August 11, 2005 07:34 AM
I am at the launch site right now. We are troubleshooting...get this...ECO sensor problems in the Centaur hydrogen tank :-)You can follow the launch on NASA TV and www.spaceflightnow.com. ------------------
-Ben www.LaunchPhotography.com IP: Logged |
Ben
Member Posts: 1706
From: Daytona Beach, FL
Registered: May 2000
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posted August 11, 2005 08:54 AM
They scrubbed...do hyrdogen fuel sensor problems sound familiar? :-)Not before tomorrow. They also have to negotiate with Delta 4 and its GOES weather satellite, which was supposed to be Saturday and must launch by Sunday or face a delay to October. IP: Logged |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 12300
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted August 12, 2005 10:29 AM
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla at 7:43:00 a.m EDT on Aug 12. The spacecraft launched from Space Launch Complex 41 aboard NASA's first Atlas V rocket. The MRO is healthy and performing as designed, presently communicating with ground stations and unfurling its solar arrays.The spacecraft now begins its journey to Mars. The MRO's 'cruise phase' to the planet takes 7 months, followed by 6 months spent refining its orbit using a technique known as 'aerobraking'. During the initial cruise phase, controllers plan to test the satellite's instruments and begin preparations to slow it using the atmosphere of Mars. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's mission is to see if long-standing bodies of water ever existed on the planet. While missions like the Mars Exploration Rovers have shown that water once flowed across the planet's surface, scientists are yet to determine if it was around long enough to provide a habitat for life. IP: Logged |
