* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Mars Reconnaissance Launch

Blobrana · L

RE: Mars Reconnaissance orbiter

Blobrana · L

The launch window is between 11:54 to 13:39 GMT, Wednesday. If the launch is postponed, additional launch windows open daily at different times each morning through August.

For trips from Earth to Mars, the planets move into good position for only a short period every 26 months. The best launch position is when Earth is about to `overtake` Mars in their individual orbits around the sun.

-- Edited by Blobrana at 21:38, 2005-08-09

Blobrana · L

The launch date for the Mars Reconnaissance orbiter is set for August 10th 11:54 UT.

Webcast: (NASA Archive)

Blobrana · L

The space agency NASA has cancelled the planned $500 million Mars Telecommunications Orbiter that was expected to be built by Lockheed Martin. Negotiations between the aerospace company and NASA had been expected to lead to the award of a design-and-build contract for the Mars Orbiter.

The Mars Science Laboratory will also be delayed by 2 - 4 years due to the budget problems - this would mean a launch as late as 2013.

Blobrana · L

NASA says the Mars Reconnaissance orbiter set to launch next month will study the planet in unprecedented detail, providing more data than all previous missions combined.
The spacecraft will carry six instruments for analyzing the atmosphere, surface and subsurface of Mars, National Aeronautical and Space Administration officials said Thursday.
One of the science payload's three cameras will be the largest-diameter telescopic camera sent to another planet.
The second camera will expand the present area of high-resolution coverage by a factor of 10; and a third camera will provide global maps of Martian weather.
The other three instruments will be a spectrometer, a ground-penetrating radar unit, and a radiometer to monitor atmospheric dust, water vapour and temperature.

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will launch atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida
The launch window will open August 10 2005 and the orbiter is to reach Mars next March.

The scientific experiments will build on information from earlier missions and pave the way for future missions. They’re all part of the strategy to look for signs of present or past life on Mars, understand its climate and geologic history.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will help researchers select landing sites for future missions. One of these is the Phoenix lander , scheduled for launch in August 2007. Another is the Mars Science Laboratory, the next robotic rover planned for launch in October 2009.