Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

[Orstio]

Payload:            Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
                    Separated mass:  Approx. 4,806 lbs (2,180 kg)

Launch Vehicle:     Atlas V-401, designated AV-007
                    Weight at liftoff: 740,000 lbs (336,000 kg),
                      including payload
                    Fairing: 13.75 ft (4 m) diameter
                    Height: 188 ft (57 m)

Launch Date:        Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2005

Launch Window:      1 hour 45 minutes
                    7:54-9:39 a.m. EDT
                    5:54-7:39 a.m. MDT
                    4:54-6:39 a.m. PDT
                    11:54-13:39 GMT
         
Launch Site:        Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
                    Launch Complex 41

Launch Customer:    NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida

Spacecraft End
User:               NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
         
Spacecraft
Manufacturer:       Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., Denver, Colo.

Launch Vehicle      Atlas vehicle and Centaur upper stage built by
Manufacturer:       Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Denver, Colo.;
                    San Diego, Calif.; and Harlingen, Texas.

Launch Services     
Provider:           International Launch Services,  McLean, Va.

Spacecraft Use:     To search for evidence of water on Mars, using
                    extreme close-up photography; analyzing minerals;
                    examining the subsurface with radar; and
                    monitoring daily weather. The orbiter also will
                    establish a crucial data link and will seek
                    suitable landing sites for future spacecraft.

Spacecraft
Statistics:         --  6.5 m (21 feet) high
                    --  13.6 m (45 feet) wide
                    --  3 m (10-foot) diameter dish antenna
                    --  2 kw solar panel power at farthest point from
                        sun
                    --  6 science instruments (hyper-spectral imaging
                        spectrometer; very-high-resolution camera;
                        context camera; color camera; climate sounder;
                        shallow subsurface radar)
                                                                     
Mission Profile:    Earth escape mission (hyperbolic departure orbit),
                    with two Centaur burns. Event times will depend on
                    the actual launch date; the following timeline
                    summary assumes an Aug. 10 launch. The Atlas V
                    vehicle will lift off from Pad 41. After about 4
                    minutes, the Atlas booster stage will burn out and
                    separate from the Centaur upper stage. The Centaur
                    will ignite and shortly thereafter the payload
                    fairing will be jettisoned. After about 9 more
                    minutes, the Centaur main engine will cut off and
                    the vehicle will coast about 35 minutes in an
                    elliptical parking orbit. The Centaur will then
                    ignite a second time, burning about 5.5 minutes
                    before releasing the spacecraft on its seven-month
                    voyage to Mars.
                                         
Spacecraft
Separation:         Approximately 58 minutes after liftoff

Parking Orbit
Parameters:         Apogee Altitude: 100 nm (185 km/115 statute miles)
                    Perigee Altitude:  80 nm (148 km/92 statute miles)
                                         
ILS Mission
Statistics:         --  6th flight of Atlas V vehicle
                    --  1st Atlas V launch for NASA and U.S.
                        government
                    --  134th Atlas launch for NASA         
                    --  Atlas family has perfect record in 76
                        consecutive flights
                    --  3rd Atlas mission this year
                    --  5th mission for ILS this year         


                         NEWS MEDIA ACTIVITIES
                           All times are EDT

Pre-launch
Briefing:           9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9
                    NASA News Center
                    Kennedy Space Center
                    This also will be carried on NASA TV.
                                                           
Remote Camera
Set-up:             9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9.  Accredited photographers
                    should meet at KSC News Center to board a van that
                    will take them to Complex 41.

Vehicle Rollout:    10:44 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9.  News media should
                    meet at the KSC News Center at 10:15 p.m. to board
                    a van that will take them to the viewing site.
                    RSVP required by close of business Aug. 8 by
                    calling KSC News Center at 321-867-2468.

Launch Viewing:     We will use the KSC Press Site; for credentials,
                    contact KSC News Center at 321-867-2468.

Live Broadcast:     ILS will webcast the launch at www.ilslaunch.com
                    beginning approximately 7:40 a.m.  NASA's launch
                    broadcast will be carried on NASA TV beginning at
                    5:30 a.m.

More Information:   General mission information and launch highlights
                    will be available on the ILS website at
                    www.ilslaunch.com. Launch status updates will be
                    available on the ILS U.S. domestic Launch Hotline
                    at 1-800-852-4980.
                    Mission information also is available at
                    www.nasa.gov/mro and marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov.

6.5 by 13.6 meters!  This thing is HUGE!  And also powerful:  Mars Odyssey has only 750 W; MRO will have 2kW.

[remcook]

Looking forward to the pictures from the MERs by that hi-res camera. would be pretty cool.

[yale]

Very remarkable is the great size of this spacecraft.

        --  6.5 m (21 feet) high
        --  13.6 m (45 feet) wide
        --  3 m (10-foot) diameter dish antenna
        --  2 kw solar panel power at farthest point from
                        sun

[Orstio]

In comparison, it weighs the same, and is only a foot or two narrower than one of these:



And 10 ft longer!

[Skyjim]

Nice, Orstio!

Jim

[remcook]

launch delayed

[Skyjim]

Cleared to go one day late.  The Atlas V is hard down on the pad as I write this, about 5.5 hours prior to launch.

Jim

[Astronuc]

Still waiting -



[attachment deleted by admin]

[Astronuc]

Nuts!  - New US Mars probe delayed again  (from BBC)

The $500m Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was due to launch on Thursday, but controllers called a halt just a few minutes before blast-off.

It will arrive in orbit around Mars in March to look at the history of water on the planet and hunt for landing sites for future manned missions.

MRO can transmit 10 times more data each minute than previous Mars probes.

During loading of the hydrogen fuel tank, sensors showed a "dry" reading when they should have been reading "wet". A similar problem forced Nasa to scrub the launch of the space shuttle Discovery from Cape Canaveral on 13 July.

"It's not really clear what the cause was," said launch director Chuck Duvall.

He added: "We'll continue to troubleshoot and hopefully resolve [the problem] for an attempt tomorrow."

There will be a two-hour launch window on Friday running from 1243 BST (0743 EDT) to 1443 BST (0943 EDT).

The spacecraft is the size of a small bus and weighs about 2,000kg; it will carry some of the most sophisticated instruments ever taken to the Red Planet.

- and we are still waiting. 

 

[Astronuc]

Ta dah!  MRO has been launched!   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_Reconnaissance_Orbiter

[Orstio]

Two days until orbital insertion!

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/overview/

[Astronuc]

Well, this is not Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter, but it is a compliation of data from previous programs.  MRO should provide greater resolution.

This is really cool.   

[remcook]

There's no altimeter on MRO...

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru.html

but the pictures should be spectacular

In case you haven't noticed...MOI was a success!

[Astronuc]

MOI -  It pretty much went according to plan.  They just have to sit tight and hope it functioned as planned - and it did.

On Cue, Spacecraft Glides into Orbit Around Mars
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5257061

[Astronuc]

There's no altimeter on MRO...

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_instru.html

But - http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/mission/sc_guide.html

indicates that there is some guidance system.