* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: The Phoenix lander

Blobrana · L

Goldstone has aquired signals from Phoenix

Blobrana · L

The Delta II launch vehicle in the 7925 vehicle configuration carrying the Phoenix Mars Lander out of Earth orbit and onto Mars, with the Phoenix Mars Lander expected to landing there on May 25, 2008.

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No official confirmation of third stage separation due to lack of data.

Blobrana · L

Weather conditions

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Credit NASA

Blobrana · L

Nasa has launched a spacecraft on a nine-month journey to Mars, where it will dig below the surface for clues to the existence of past or present life.
The Phoenix probe lifted off at 05:26 EDT (10:26 BST) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop a Delta II rocket.

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Credit NASA

Blobrana · L

T-00:00 Liftoff
The ULA Delta 2 rocket's main engine and twin vernier steering thrusters are started moments before launch. The six ground-start strap-on solid rocket motors are ignited at T-0 to begin the mission.
T+01:03.1 Ground SRM Burnout
The six ground-start Alliant TechSystems-built solid rocket motors consume all their propellant and burn out.
T+01:05.5 Air-Lit SRM Ignition
The three remaining solid rocket motors strapped to the Delta 2 rocket's first stage are ignited.
T+01:06.0 Jettison Ground SRMs
The six spent ground-started solid rocket boosters are jettisoned in sets of three to fall into the Atlantic Ocean.
T+02:11.5 Jettison Air-Lit SRMs
Having burned out, the three spent air-started solid rocket boosters are jettisoned toward the Atlantic Ocean.
T+04:23.3 Main Engine Cutoff
After consuming its RP-1 fuel and liquid oxygen, the Rocketdyne RS-27A first stage main engine is shut down. The vernier engines cut off moments later.
T+04:31.3 Stage Separation
The Delta rocket's first stage is separated now, having completed its job. The spent stage will fall into the Atlantic Ocean.
T+04:36.8 Second Stage Ignition
With the stage jettisoned, the rocket's second stage takes over. The Aerojet AJ10-118K liquid-fuelled engine ignites for the first of its two firings to boost the Phoenix spacecraft.
T+05:03.0 Jettison Payload Fairing
The 9.5-foot diameter payload fairing that protected the Phoenix spacecraft atop the Delta 2 during the atmospheric ascent is jettisoned is two halves.
T+09:20.5 Second Stage Cutoff 1
The second stage engine shuts down to complete its first firing of the launch after reaching an 86.4 by 96.5 nautical mile orbit at 28.5 degrees inclination. The rocket and attached spacecraft are now in a coast period before the second stage reignites.
T+73:47.2 Second Stage Restart
Delta's second stage engine reignites for a firing that accelerates the payload further.
T+76:02.3 Second Stage Cutoff 2
The stage shuts down to complete its second burn having reached an 87.7 by 3,128.1 nautical mile orbit at 28.5 degrees inclination. Over the next minute, tiny thrusters on the side of the rocket will be fired to spin up the vehicle in preparation for stage separation.
T+77:05.5 Stage Separation
The liquid-fuelled second stage is jettisoned from the rest of the Delta 2 rocket.
T+77:42.8 Third Stage Ignition
The Thiokol Star 48B solid-fuelled third stage is ignited to propel Phoenix on its departure trajectory from Earth.
T+79:10.3 Third Stage Burnout
Having used up all its solid-propellant, the third stage burns out to completed the powered phase of the launch sequence for Phoenix.
T+84:10.3 Phoenix Separation
NASA's Phoenix spacecraft is released from the third stage to begin the nine-month cruise to the Red Planet.

Data source: ULA

Blobrana · L

The Delta 2 rocket carrying the Phoenix spacecraft successfully lifted off from the Kennedy space centre at 05:26 local time today for a 10-month journey to Mars.

Phoenix launch timeline

T-150 minutes
    * Launch countdown begins
    * Personnel not involved in the count clear the launch area; warning horn sounds

T-146 minutes
    * First stage helium and nitrogen pressurization begins
    * Second stage helium tank pressurization begins

T-140 minutes
    * Turn on launch vehicle guidance system

T-130 minutes
    * First stage fuelling begins

T-95 minutes
    * Weather briefing

T-87 minutes
    * Launch team polled for readiness to begin loading liquid oxygen (LOX)

T-80 minutes
    * Blast danger area is cleared

T-75 minutes
    * Liquid oxygen loading begins

T-60 minutes
    * Vehicle C-Band radar transponder beacon checks begin

T-30 minutes
    * Perform engine gimbal steering checks (slew checks)

T-15 minutes and holding
Built-in 20-minute hold
    * Weather update
    * Launch team polled for readiness

T-15 minutes and counting
    * Top off liquid oxygen to 95 percent
    * Top off helium and nitrogen pressurization system
    * Range Safety Radio Command Carrier on

T-14 minutes
    * Range Safety Command Receiver checks

T-10 minutes
    * Pressurise first stage fuel tank

T-7 minutes
    * Top off liquid oxygen to 99 percent

T-6 minutes
    * Verify observed weather is "go" for launch

T-5 minutes
    * Spacecraft to internal power (mission dependent)
    * Launch enable switch to "on"

T-4 minutes and holding
Built-in 10-minute hold
    * Launch Conductor receives "go" to release from hold

T-4 minutes and counting
    * Arm launch vehicle and Range Safety devices
    * Launch vehicle to internal power

T-3 minutes
    * NASA launch manager reports "go" for launch

T-2 minutes
    * Raise liquid oxygen tank to flight pressure

T-80 seconds
    * Top off first stage liquid oxygen to 100 percent

T-70 seconds
    * Range report "go" for launch

T-60 seconds
    * Launch enable switch "on"

T-30 seconds
    * Liquid oxygen fill and drain valve closed

T-10 seconds
    * Arm launch vehicle ignition system

T-7 seconds
    * Go for main engine start

T-2.5 seconds
    * Command main engine start

T-0 minutes
    * Liftoff of the Delta II rocket!

Data source: NASA

Blobrana · L

JPL Video: Phoenix Mars Lander: Hunting for Habitats

JPL Video: Phoenix Mars Lander: Hunting for Habitats
JPLnews
3 min 1 sec - 3 Aug 2007

Literally going where no spacecraft has gone before, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will visit the north polar region of Mars.

Blobrana · L

Challenges of Getting to Mars: Transporting Phoenix

Challenges of Getting to Mars: Transporting Phoenix
JPLnews
4 min 16 sec - 3 Aug 2007

Getting the Phoenix spacecraft from its "birthplace" in Colorado to its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida is no easy task.

Blobrana · L

A NASA robotic explorer equipped to dig up and analyse icy soil on Mars sits atop a 13-story tall stack of rocket engines prepared for liftoff before sunup on Saturday.

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The planned landing site for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander lies at a latitude on Mars equivalent to northern Alaska on Earth. It is within the region designated "D" on this global image.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Washington Univ. St. Louis/Univ. of Arizona

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