Posted on 08/12/2005 4:10:50 AM PDT by Textide
1236 GMT (8:36 a.m. EDT)
T+plus 53 minutes. About two minutes left to go in powered flight.
1235 GMT (8:35 a.m. EDT)
T+plus 52 minutes, 30 seconds. The acceleration level is 1.2 g's.
T+plus 55 minutes, 6 seconds. MECO 2! The Centaur's Pratt & Whitney RL10 engine has shut down.
Nice launch!
SpaceflightNow.com:
The $720 million mission's main science phase runs from November 2006 to December 2008, enabling the onboard cameras, spectrometer, climate sounder and subsurface radar to gather an unparalleled amount of data about Mars.
"We will keep pursuing a follow-the-water strategy with Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter," said Michael Meyer, Mars exploration chief scientist at NASA Headquarters. "Dramatic discoveries by Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey and the Mars Exploration Rovers about recent gullies, near-surface permafrost and ancient surface water have given us a new Mars in the past few years. Learning more about what has happened to the water will focus searches for possible Martian life, past or present."
The instruments on MRO will offer sharper focus than earlier spacecraft, giving scientists hope for revolutionary discoveries.
"Higher resolution is a major driver for this mission. Every time we look with increased resolution, Mars has said, 'Here's something you didn't expect. You don't understand me yet.' We're sure to find surprises," said Richard Zurek, the orbiter's project scientist from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Featuring the largest telescope to orbit another planet, MRO's high-resolution camera can spot rocks as small as three-feet across and surface layering that will be critical to Mars research as well as selecting safe but interesting sites for future landers.
SpaceflightNow.com:
"It lays the groundwork for the landing of the Phoenix mission in 2008 and the Mars Science Laboratory (nuclear-powered rover) in 2010. It will provide data relay for both of those spacecraft as well as the rovers (now on Mars) and future missions."
GOES-N is nearing liftoff
SpaceflightNow.com:
1824 GMT (2:24 p.m. EDT)
First stage liquid hydrogen tanking operation is transitioning from "slow-fill" to "fast-fill" mode.
1822 GMT (2:22 p.m. EDT)
Fueling of the Delta 4 rocket's first stage continues. The liquid oxygen tank is over 80 percent full now while the hydrogen loading remains in the early phases.
1809 GMT (2:09 p.m. EDT)
The cold gas chilldown conditioning of the liquid hydrogen system has been accomplished. Liquid hydrogen propellant is beginning to flow into the first stage. This "slow-fill" will be sped up to "fast-fill" after a small portion of the tank is loaded.
Chilled to Minus-423 degrees Fahrenheit, the liquid hydrogen will be consumed by the RS-68 main engine along with liquid oxygen during the first four minutes, 27 seconds of the launch.
1742 GMT (1:42 p.m. EDT)
The hydrogen system's cold gas chilldown conditioning is now underway.
1739 GMT (1:39 p.m. EDT)
The first stage liquid oxygen loading in "slow-fill" mode has commenced.
1735 GMT (1:35 p.m. EDT)
The first stage liquid oxygen chilldown is complete. Fueling will begin in the "slow-fill" mode to load a small percentage of the tank. Then the process will speed up to the "fast-fill" mode until the tank is nearly full.
1727 GMT (1:27 p.m. EDT)
Approval has been given to start the cold gas chilldown conditioning of the first stage liquid hydrogen system.
1720 GMT (1:20 p.m. EDT)
Chilldown of the first stage liquid oxygen system is starting. This preps the tank and pumping to guard against shock with the supercold oxidizer begins flowing into the rocket a short time from now.
1702 GMT (1:02 p.m. EDT)
T-minus 5 hours, 15 minutes and counting! The Terminal Countdown has begun for today's launch of the Boeing Delta 4 rocket with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-N (GOES-N). The countdown has one planned built-in hold at T-minus 5 minutes for 15 minutes, leading to liftoff at 6:32 p.m. EDT.
In other space news, the ISS
SpaceflightNow.com
ISS spacewalk ends
The International Space Station's two resident crewmembers stepped outside their orbital home Thursday for a five-hour spacewalk to change out a Russian biological experiment, retrieve some radiation sensors, remove a Japanese materials science experiment, photograph a Russian materials experiment and install a TV camera. Work to relocate a grapple fixture was scrubbed because commander Sergei Krikalev and flight engineer John Phillips were running behind schedule, preventing sufficient time to finish the job. The excursion began at 3:02 p.m. EDT (1902 GMT) when the Pirs airlock module's outer hatch was opened to space and ended at 8 p.m.
SpaceflightNow.com:
Another space mission, ongoing, fresh news:
Why can the Japanese collect material from an asteroid, but we can't?
Odd logic.
The State does it for all mankind, to use the phraseology of the Treaty. Clearly a private citizen cannot do anything for all mankind. If a private citizen should happen to have a moon rock in his possession, the MIB will come calling. It is even questionable whether a meteorite landing in one's yard can be held by the land owner; at the least the meteorite may be placed in the hands of the state university.
SpaceflightNow.com update:
Successfully launched August 12 aboard a Lockheed Martin Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, the two-and-a-half ton probe was deliberately placed on a path off target from Mars. This weekend's engine burn, called Trajectory Correction Maneuver 1, will move MRO's course closer to its eventual destination.
MRO left Earth with its spent rocket motor following behind. To prevent that Centaur upper stage from crashing into Mars, mission designers dispatched the spacecraft on a pre-planned miss trajectory knowing that TCM 1 would re-plot the course.
"We never point directly at Mars (at launch)," said Steve Jolly, chief engineer and deputy MRO program manager at Lockheed Martin. "We don't want the Centaur stage, or whatever launch vehicle you are using, to go to Mars also. We want it to fly past. The reason is mostly for planetary protection purposes, meaning we don't want to be depositing biological material down on the same planet that we are searching for such things."
The Lockheed Martin-built spacecraft's current path misses Mars by 50,000 miles. Saturday's 15-second engine firing will steer MRO toward a target 250 miles off the planet. It will be the spacecraft's largest maneuver until next year's Mars Orbit Insertion and offers the one and only in-flight test of the engine cluster needed for that MOI burn.
Do they know what kind of gravity pull exists on Mars?
Yes. They are also learning more detail about the atmosphere of Mars, which is light but very deep, which presents a problem for Mars orbiters because they can't get very close.
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