| More at: scitech.quickfound.net "NASA's latest rover, Curiosity, is ready to launch atop an Atlas V rocket to begin its trip to Mars." see also: The Challenges of Getting to Mars: Getting a Rover Ready for Launch www.youtube.com www.jpl.nasa.gov ...A two-stage Atlas V 541 launch vehicle will lift the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla... The launch time, called "T Zero," is 1.1 seconds before liftoff. Ignition of the Atlas V 541 first-stage common core booster is at 2.7 seconds before T Zero, or 3.8 seconds before liftoff. The four solid rocket boosters ignite 3.5 seconds after ignition of the common core booster (0.3 second before liftoff). They burn for about a minute and a half, and then their spent casings are jettisoned in pairs several seconds after burnout. The common core booster engine of the first stage continues to burn until about 4 minutes and 20 seconds after liftoff. During that burn, at about 3 minutes and 25 seconds after liftoff, the payload fairing around the spacecraft is jettisoned... After coasting for a few seconds following booster engine cutoff, the launch vehicle's second stage Centaur separates from the first stage, which drops into the Atlantic Ocean. About 10 seconds after that separation, the Centaur engine is started for the first of two burns. That burn lasts about 7 minutes and inserts the Centaur and spacecraft stack into a parking orbit... The second Centaur burn, continuing ... |
