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9.11.2013
NASA’s Mars-bound MAVEN spacecraft, safely tucked inside its payload fairing, has been positioned atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster for a Nov. 18 launch attempt. Photo Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
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Crews guide NASA’s MAVEN spacecraft, inside a payload fairing, into place atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41. Photo Credit: NASA / Kim Shiflett
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Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians begin encapsulation of the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft inside its payload fairing. Photo Credit: NASA / Kim Shiflett
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With less than two weeks before the launch window opens for NASA’s next mission to Mars work continues at Cape Canaveral Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) to ready for a Nov. 18 launch attempt, and early this morning the launch team hoisted the 5,400 pound fully fueled MAVEN spacecraft atop its Atlas-V rocket launch vehicle. The milestone processing event marks a significant moment in MAVEN’s long journey to Mars, one which began a decade ago.
The spacecraft, already encapsulated in a protective 4-meter diameter payload fairing for the launch, was moved from the Kennedy Space Center Payload Hazardous Processing Facility to SLC-41 atop a specialized payload transporter shortly after midnight Friday morning. The spacecraft arrived at SLC-41 less than three hours later, where the team quickly began the delicate task of hoisting MAVEN via crane into the Vertical Integration Facility for placement atop the Atlas-V rocket which will thunder away from Earth and throw MAVEN on a one-way trip to Mars.
The spacecraft is ready to fly, and according to United Launch Alliance so is their Atlas-V rocket. On Oct. 29 teams rolled the rocket out to its launch pad and performed a full countdown dress rehearsal, fueling the vehicle and verifying that both the Atlas-V first stage booster and its upper stage Centaur engine are ready to fly. The launch countdown test, with the rocket fully loaded with liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen, and RP-1 fuel, went as expected and ended at T-0 with no problems reported.
The rocket’s first stage booster was hoisted vertical inside SCL-41′s Vertical Integration Facility on Oct. 11, and the rocket’s upper stage Centaur was hoisted atop the core booster a few days later on Oct. 14. A Combined Systems Test, which is an electrical test of the rocket, was conducted on Oct. 22 with no problems reported.
MAVEN’s move to the launch complex was delayed from Thursday Nov. 7 due to a leak discovered in a ground system gaseous purge line at SLC-41. The minor delay allowed technicians to have the time they needed to complete troubleshooting and repair activities for the ground system leak.
The spacecraft itself has already passed numerous tests, and even more reviews, as the clock ticks towards launch day. Thorough tests of software and hardware systems, inspection and cleaning of the solar panels, verification tests of the various spacecraft subsystems and payloads, and readiness reviews have all been completed. On Oct. 22 engineers and technicians performed a dry spin test on the spacecraft, rotating MAVEN up to 10 times per minute to verify that the spacecraft is properly balanced as it spins during initial mission activities. A few days later, on Oct. 25, the spacecraft was fueled with 431 gallons of highly toxic hydrazine, which MAVEN will use as a propellant for control and trajectory adjustments during its 10-month journey, or “cruise phase,” to the Red Planet.
MAVEN will only actually need very little of its fuel for the cruise phase itself, as thrusters on the spacecraft will only fire to adjust MAVEN’s flight path during the cruise and approach phases of the flight. Most of the fuel will be conserved for MAVEN’s arrival at Mars in September 2014, when it will need most of that 431 gallons to place itself into position for orbit insertion and performing orbital correction maneuvers once at Mars. The fuel will also help MAVEN maintain a correct elliptical orbit throughout the mission and will boost the satellite into a higher elliptical orbit at the end of its mission to relay data from other spacecraft (including the Curiosity and Opportunity rovers) currently exploring the surface of the Red Planet.
The spacecraft, now sitting snugly atop its 188-foot tall Atlas-V launch vehicle, will be powered up for a health check Saturday (Nov. 9), and teams will perform an Integrated Systems Test the following Monday (Nov. 11) to verify that the spacecraft and its rocket are working together and functioning as expected. Several communications tests will be conducted with the spacecraft between now and launch to ensure MAVEN is in fact healthy when its violent launch begins.
NASA’s $670 million Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) will have its first chance to launch on Nov. 18 at 1:28 p.m. EST, with a two-hour launch window available on each day during a three week launch window. Once launched, MAVEN will take 10 months to push through the emptiness between our worlds, arriving at Mars on Sept. 22, 2014 (assuming MAVEN launches on Nov. 18). It will take five weeks for the spacecraft to get into its final science-mapping orbit, test the instruments, and test science mapping sequences. MAVEN will then be ready to begin its one-Earth-year primary mission.
“MAVEN is going after something the others haven’t,” said David Mitchell, MAVEN’s project manager for NASA’s Goddard Spaceflight Center in Maryland. “It’s going to look at the current composition of the upper atmosphere and how solar storms and other factors changed the atmosphere. We’ll then be able to project back in time to see how it was in an earlier epoch. Scientists believe the planet has evolved significantly over the past 4.5 billion years. It had a thicker atmosphere and water flowing on the surface. It wasn’t like Earth, but it was not like it is today. Ultimately, the mysteries that MAVEN will help decipher should be a treasure trove for the science community.”
Quelle:AS
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Update: 10.11.2013
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 11.11.2013
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MAVEN Encapsulated in Payload Fairing
Nov. 2, 2013 -- Inside the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, engineers and technicians prepare the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft for encapsulation inside its payload fairing.
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MAVEN's Payload Fairing Arrives
Oct. 21, 2013 – The payload fairing for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft arrives at the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. MAVEN is being prepared for its scheduled launch on Nov 18, 2013 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 14.11.2013
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 14.11.2013
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Quelle:NASA
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Update: 15.11.2013
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Launch Readiness Review Gives ‘Go’ for Monday Liftoff
MAVEN cleared its last mission review today as NASA and contractor managers gave a “go” today at the Launch Readiness Review to proceed to launch Monday at 1:28 p.m. EST, the beginning of a 2-hour launch window for the Mars-bound spacecraft. The weather forecast for Monday remains at a 60 percent change of acceptable conditions at launch time.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 16.11.2013
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Launch Readiness Review Gives 'Go' for MAVEN Launch
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The Atlas V rocket with MAVEN aboard will be rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility or VIF, pictured with the Atlas V inside, to the launch pad at Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Saturday morning. Technicians will connect a battery of umbilicals and make the other connections necessary to set up the Atlas V for Monday’s launch. Sunday will be a rest day for the launch team, said Omar Baez, NASA’s launch director. The launch team will take to their consoles Monday morning to begin the final phase of the countdown ahead of the 1:28 p.m. EST liftoff.
Quelle: NASA
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Update: 21.15 MEZ
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MAVEN at the Launch Pad
The Atlas V rocket carrying the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft sits at the launch pad at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after rolling out from Space Launch Complex 41 on Saturday, Nov. 16. MAVEN is set to launch at 1:28 p.m. EST on Monday on a 10-month journey to the Red Planet.
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At Launch Complex 41, the Atlas V rocket carrying the MAVEN spacecraft rolled out of the Vertical Integration Facility on schedule. First motion was at 9:57 a.m. It reached the launch pad 20 minutes later and was secured in position at 10:35 a.m. All prelaunch work is complete except spacecraft battery charging, which will be underway until the launch countdown picks up at 6:28 a.m. Monday. The weather forecast is unchanged with a 40 percent chance of not meeting the launch weather criteria primarily due to cloud conditions.
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 17.11.2013
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 18.11.2013
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Night Before Launch of Mars-Bound MAVEN Spacecraft
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A full moon rises behind the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft onboard at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral, Fla. on Nov. 17, 2013.
MAVEN is the second mission under NASA's Mars Scout Program. It will take critical measurements of the Martian upper atmosphere to help scientists understand climate change over the Red Planet's history. MAVEN is the first spacecraft devoted to exploring and understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.
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Quelle: NASA
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Update: 20.30 MEZ
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MAVEN Launches on Ten-Month Journey to Mars Orbit
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At 1:28 p.m. EST, NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, beginning a 10-month journey to Mars orbit. MAVEN will take critical measurements of the Martian upper atmosphere to help scientists understand climate change over the Red Planet's history.
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Quelle: NASA-TV
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Update: 19.11.2013
NASA Administrator Congratulates MAVEN Launch Team
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Quelle: NASA
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