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NASA / NASA JPL:
NASA Ready for November Launch of Car-Size Mars Rover
November 10, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's most advanced mobile robotic laboratory, which will examine one of the most intriguing areas on Mars, is in final preparations for a launch from Florida's Space Coast at 10:25 a.m. EST (7:25 a.m. PST) on Nov. 25.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will carry Curiosity, a rover with more scientific capability than any ever sent to another planet. The rover is now sitting atop an Atlas V rocket awaiting liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
"Preparations are on track for launching at our first opportunity," said Pete Theisinger, Mars Science Laboratory project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "If weather or other factors prevent launching then, we have more opportunities through Dec. 18."
Scheduled to land on the Red Planet in August 2012, the one-ton rover will examine Gale Crater during a nearly two-year prime mission. Curiosity will land near the base of a layered mountain 3 miles (5 kilometers) high inside the crater. The rover will investigate whether environmental conditions ever have been favorable for development of microbial life and preserved evidence of those conditions.
"Gale gives us a superb opportunity to test multiple potentially habitable environments and the context to understand a very long record of early environmental evolution of the planet," said John Grotzinger, project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "The portion of the crater where Curiosity will land has an alluvial fan likely formed by water-carried sediments. Layers at the base of the mountain contain clays and sulfates, both known to form in water."
Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as earlier Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The rover will carry a set of 10 science instruments weighing 15 times as much as its predecessors' science payloads.
A mast extending to 7 feet (2.1 meters) above ground provides height for cameras and a laser-firing instrument to study targets from a distance. Instruments on a 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) arm will study targets up close. Analytical instruments inside the rover will determine the composition of rock and soil samples acquired with the arm's powdering drill and scoop. Other instruments will characterize the environment, including the weather and natural radiation that will affect future human missions.
"Mars Science Laboratory builds upon the improved understanding about Mars gained from current and recent missions," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This mission advances technologies and science that will move us toward missions to return samples from, and eventually send humans to, Mars."
The mission is challenging and risky. Because Curiosity is too heavy to use an air-bag cushioned touchdown, the mission will use a new landing method, with a rocket-powered descent stage lowering the rover on a tether like a kind of sky-crane.
The mission will pioneer precision landing methods during the spacecraft's crucial dive through Mars' atmosphere next August to place the rover onto a smaller landing target than any previously for a Mars mission. The target inside Gale Crater is 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) by 15.5 miles (25 kilometers). Rough terrain just outside that area would have disqualified the landing site without the improved precision.
No mission to Mars since the Viking landers in the 1970s has sought a direct answer to the question of whether life has existed on Mars. Curiosity is not designed to answer that question by itself, but its investigations for evidence about prerequisites for life will steer potential future missions toward answers.
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NASA Press Release: MEDIA ADVISORY : 11-379 - NASA Ready For November Launch Of Car-Sized Mars Rover
NASA / NASA Media Advisory:
NASA Sets MSL/ATLAS V Launch Coverage Events
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft with the Curiosity rover is set to launch to the planet Mars aboard an Atlas V rocket on Nov. 25, 2011 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window extends from 10:25 a.m. to 12:08 p.m. EST. The launch period for MSL extends through Dec. 18.
The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in August 2012. Curiosity has 10 science instruments to search for evidence about whether Mars had environments favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release their gasses so that a spectrometer can analyze them and send the data back to Earth.
Briefings about the mission are scheduled throughout the week leading to launch and will be held at the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site.
Science Briefings and Prelaunch News Conference (all times are EST)
Monday, Nov. 21, 1 p.m.: "What Do We Know About Mars?"
Participants will be:
Tuesday, Nov. 22, 11 a.m.: "Looking for Signs of Life in the Universe"
Participants will be:
Tuesday, Nov. 22, 1 p.m.: Prelaunch News Conference
Participants will be:
Wednesday, Nov. 23, 1 p.m.: "Why Mars Excites and Inspires Us"
Participants will be:
Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m.: "Missions to Mars: Robotics and Humans Together"
(Originating from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston)
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Atlas V Launch Vehicle Rollout
Wednesday, Nov. 23: There will be a media opportunity to observe the rollout of the Atlas V rocket from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad. Reporters should be at the Kennedy press site at 9 a.m. for transportation by bus to the viewing location near Space Launch Complex 41. Media should register their planned attendance at the event on a sign-up list at the Kennedy press site.
Remote Camera Placement at Space Launch Complex 41
Wednesday, Nov. 23: Photographers who wish to set up remote sound-activated cameras at the Atlas V launch pad will be taken by government bus to Space Launch Complex 41.Photographers should meet in the parking lot at the Kennedy press site at 12:30 p.m. Remote cameras are being placed at the pad two days before launch because the pad will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Media should plan on using a timer that can be set for more than 24 hours. Only news media representatives establishing a remote camera at the pad will be permitted for this activity. Photographers should register on the sign-up list at the Kennedy press site.
Launch Day Press Site Access
Friday, Nov. 25: Reporters will cover the MSL launch from the Kennedy press site. Access will be through Gate 2 on State Road 3 or Gate 3 on State Road 405, east of the Kennedy Visitor Complex, beginning at 6 a.m. There will be no access through Gate 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or Gate 4 to the north of Kennedy Space Center.
Kennedy News Center Hours
Monday, Nov. 21: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 22: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 23: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 23: Closed for Thanksgiving
Friday, Nov. 25: 5:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
NASA Television Launch Coverage
On Friday, Nov. 25, NASA Television coverage of the launch will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude after spacecraft separation from the Atlas V occurs 53 minutes, 49 seconds after launch. Live launch coverage will be carried on all NASA Television channels.
A post-launch news conference will be held at the Kennedy press site approximately 2 ½ hours after launch. A post-launch news release will be issued as soon as the health of MSL is confirmed. Spokespeople also will be available at the press site to answer questions and do interviews.
For NASA Television downlink information, schedule information and streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Audio only of the news conferences and the launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, -1260 or -7135.On launch day, mission audio of the launch conductor’s countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary will be carried on 321-867-7135 starting at 7:15 a.m. Launch coverage also will be available on local amateur VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz broadcast within Brevard County.
NASA Web Coverage
Extensive prelaunch and launch day coverage of the liftoff of the MSL spacecraft aboard an Atlas V rocket will be available on NASA's home page on the Internet at:
http://www.nasa.gov
A prelaunch webcast for the MSL mission will be streamed on the Web on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at noon. Live countdown coverage through NASA's Launch Blog begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 25. Coverage features live updates as countdown milestones occur, as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch preparations and liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact Jeanne Ryba at 321-867-7824.
To view the webcast and the blog or to learn more about the MSL mission, visit the mission home page at:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl
Twitter
The NASA News Twitter feed will be updated throughout the launch countdown. To access the NASA News Twitter feed, visit:
http://www.twitter.com/nasakennedy
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SPACE.com: Mars Rover’s Hovering Act Will Have NASA Scientists Biting Nails
NASA Ready for November Launch of Car-Size Mars Rover
November 10, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA's most advanced mobile robotic laboratory, which will examine one of the most intriguing areas on Mars, is in final preparations for a launch from Florida's Space Coast at 10:25 a.m. EST (7:25 a.m. PST) on Nov. 25.
The Mars Science Laboratory mission will carry Curiosity, a rover with more scientific capability than any ever sent to another planet. The rover is now sitting atop an Atlas V rocket awaiting liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
"Preparations are on track for launching at our first opportunity," said Pete Theisinger, Mars Science Laboratory project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. "If weather or other factors prevent launching then, we have more opportunities through Dec. 18."
Scheduled to land on the Red Planet in August 2012, the one-ton rover will examine Gale Crater during a nearly two-year prime mission. Curiosity will land near the base of a layered mountain 3 miles (5 kilometers) high inside the crater. The rover will investigate whether environmental conditions ever have been favorable for development of microbial life and preserved evidence of those conditions.
"Gale gives us a superb opportunity to test multiple potentially habitable environments and the context to understand a very long record of early environmental evolution of the planet," said John Grotzinger, project scientist for the Mars Science Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "The portion of the crater where Curiosity will land has an alluvial fan likely formed by water-carried sediments. Layers at the base of the mountain contain clays and sulfates, both known to form in water."
Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as earlier Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The rover will carry a set of 10 science instruments weighing 15 times as much as its predecessors' science payloads.
A mast extending to 7 feet (2.1 meters) above ground provides height for cameras and a laser-firing instrument to study targets from a distance. Instruments on a 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) arm will study targets up close. Analytical instruments inside the rover will determine the composition of rock and soil samples acquired with the arm's powdering drill and scoop. Other instruments will characterize the environment, including the weather and natural radiation that will affect future human missions.
"Mars Science Laboratory builds upon the improved understanding about Mars gained from current and recent missions," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This mission advances technologies and science that will move us toward missions to return samples from, and eventually send humans to, Mars."
The mission is challenging and risky. Because Curiosity is too heavy to use an air-bag cushioned touchdown, the mission will use a new landing method, with a rocket-powered descent stage lowering the rover on a tether like a kind of sky-crane.
The mission will pioneer precision landing methods during the spacecraft's crucial dive through Mars' atmosphere next August to place the rover onto a smaller landing target than any previously for a Mars mission. The target inside Gale Crater is 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) by 15.5 miles (25 kilometers). Rough terrain just outside that area would have disqualified the landing site without the improved precision.
No mission to Mars since the Viking landers in the 1970s has sought a direct answer to the question of whether life has existed on Mars. Curiosity is not designed to answer that question by itself, but its investigations for evidence about prerequisites for life will steer potential future missions toward answers.
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NASA Press Release: MEDIA ADVISORY : 11-379 - NASA Ready For November Launch Of Car-Sized Mars Rover
NASA / NASA Media Advisory:
Nov. 10, 2011
MEDIA ADVISORY : M11-232NASA Sets MSL/ATLAS V Launch Coverage Events
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft with the Curiosity rover is set to launch to the planet Mars aboard an Atlas V rocket on Nov. 25, 2011 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window extends from 10:25 a.m. to 12:08 p.m. EST. The launch period for MSL extends through Dec. 18.
The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in August 2012. Curiosity has 10 science instruments to search for evidence about whether Mars had environments favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release their gasses so that a spectrometer can analyze them and send the data back to Earth.
Briefings about the mission are scheduled throughout the week leading to launch and will be held at the Kennedy Space Center’s Press Site.
Science Briefings and Prelaunch News Conference (all times are EST)
Monday, Nov. 21, 1 p.m.: "What Do We Know About Mars?"
Participants will be:
- Michael Meyer, lead scientist, Mars Exploration Program
NASA Headquarters, Washington - John Grotzinger, project scientist, Mars Science Laboratory
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. - Bethany Ehlmann, scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Assistant professor, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif.
Tuesday, Nov. 22, 11 a.m.: "Looking for Signs of Life in the Universe"
Participants will be:
- Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program
NASA Headquarters, Washington - Jamie Foster, professor, Department of Microbiology and Cell Science
University of Florida, Gainesville - Pan Conrad, deputy principle investigator, Sample Analysis at Mars, MSL
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. - Steven Benner, director, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution
Gainesville, Fla. - Catharine Conley, planetary protection officer
NASA Headquarters, Washington
Tuesday, Nov. 22, 1 p.m.: Prelaunch News Conference
Participants will be:
- Colleen Hartman, assistant associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate
NASA Headquarters, Washington - Omar Baez, NASA launch director
NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla. - Vernon Thorp, program manager, NASA Missions
United Launch Alliance, Denver, Colo. - Peter Theisinger, MSL project manager
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. - Clay Flinn, launch weather officer
45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
- Michael Meyer, lead scientist for Mars Exploration Program
NASA Headquarters, Washington - John Grotzinger, project scientist for Mars Science Laboratory
California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. - Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator for Sample Analysis at Mars investigation on Curiosity
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. - David Blake, principal investigator for Chemistry and Mineralogy investigation on Curiosity
NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. - Michael Malin, principal investigator for the Mast Camera and Mars Descent Imager investigations on Curiosity, Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif.
- Roger Wiens, principal investigator for Chemistry and Camera investigation on Curiosity
Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M.
Wednesday, Nov. 23, 1 p.m.: "Why Mars Excites and Inspires Us"
Participants will be:
- Leland Melvin, associate administrator for Education
NASA Headquarters, Washington - Scott Anderson, teacher and science department chairman, Da Vinci School for Science & the Arts, El Paso, Texas
- Clara Ma, student, NASA contest winner for naming Curiosity
Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas - Veronica McGregor, manager, Media Relations Office, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m.: "Missions to Mars: Robotics and Humans Together"
(Originating from NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston)
- Doug Ming, manager, Human Exploration Science Office; MSL Co-Investigator
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston - Bret Drake, deputy chief architect, Human Spaceflight Architecture Team
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston - Matt Ondler, assistant director, Advanced Project Development
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston - Mike Gernhardt, NASA astronaut
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston - Dr. John Charles, program scientist, Human Research Program
NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston
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Atlas V Launch Vehicle Rollout
Wednesday, Nov. 23: There will be a media opportunity to observe the rollout of the Atlas V rocket from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad. Reporters should be at the Kennedy press site at 9 a.m. for transportation by bus to the viewing location near Space Launch Complex 41. Media should register their planned attendance at the event on a sign-up list at the Kennedy press site.
Remote Camera Placement at Space Launch Complex 41
Wednesday, Nov. 23: Photographers who wish to set up remote sound-activated cameras at the Atlas V launch pad will be taken by government bus to Space Launch Complex 41.Photographers should meet in the parking lot at the Kennedy press site at 12:30 p.m. Remote cameras are being placed at the pad two days before launch because the pad will be closed on Thanksgiving Day. Media should plan on using a timer that can be set for more than 24 hours. Only news media representatives establishing a remote camera at the pad will be permitted for this activity. Photographers should register on the sign-up list at the Kennedy press site.
Launch Day Press Site Access
Friday, Nov. 25: Reporters will cover the MSL launch from the Kennedy press site. Access will be through Gate 2 on State Road 3 or Gate 3 on State Road 405, east of the Kennedy Visitor Complex, beginning at 6 a.m. There will be no access through Gate 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station or Gate 4 to the north of Kennedy Space Center.
Kennedy News Center Hours
Monday, Nov. 21: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 22: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 23: 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 23: Closed for Thanksgiving
Friday, Nov. 25: 5:30 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
NASA Television Launch Coverage
On Friday, Nov. 25, NASA Television coverage of the launch will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude after spacecraft separation from the Atlas V occurs 53 minutes, 49 seconds after launch. Live launch coverage will be carried on all NASA Television channels.
A post-launch news conference will be held at the Kennedy press site approximately 2 ½ hours after launch. A post-launch news release will be issued as soon as the health of MSL is confirmed. Spokespeople also will be available at the press site to answer questions and do interviews.
For NASA Television downlink information, schedule information and streaming video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Audio only of the news conferences and the launch coverage will be carried on the NASA "V" circuits which may be accessed by dialing 321-867-1220, -1240, -1260 or -7135.On launch day, mission audio of the launch conductor’s countdown activities without NASA TV launch commentary will be carried on 321-867-7135 starting at 7:15 a.m. Launch coverage also will be available on local amateur VHF radio frequency 146.940 MHz broadcast within Brevard County.
NASA Web Coverage
Extensive prelaunch and launch day coverage of the liftoff of the MSL spacecraft aboard an Atlas V rocket will be available on NASA's home page on the Internet at:
http://www.nasa.gov
A prelaunch webcast for the MSL mission will be streamed on the Web on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at noon. Live countdown coverage through NASA's Launch Blog begins at 8 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 25. Coverage features live updates as countdown milestones occur, as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch preparations and liftoff. For questions about countdown coverage, contact Jeanne Ryba at 321-867-7824.
To view the webcast and the blog or to learn more about the MSL mission, visit the mission home page at:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl
The NASA News Twitter feed will be updated throughout the launch countdown. To access the NASA News Twitter feed, visit:
http://www.twitter.com/nasakennedy
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SPACE.com: Mars Rover’s Hovering Act Will Have NASA Scientists Biting Nails