MSL Cruise Phase |
MSL Cruise Phase |
Nov 26 2011, 03:50 PM
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Merciless Robot Group: Admin Posts: 8785 Joined: 8-December 05 From: Los Angeles Member No.: 602 |
Okay, we're off and running! Please post all comments relating to MSL's transit to Mars here.
-------------------- A few will take this knowledge and use this power of a dream realized as a force for change, an impetus for further discovery to make less ancient dreams real.
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Nov 27 2011, 03:54 AM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 706 Joined: 3-December 04 From: Boulder, Colorado, USA Member No.: 117 |
I was watching those numbers too. The apogee should have gone infinite when MSL reached escape speed- if I recall correctly it actually went negative on the display, though the moment of reaching escape was missed in the NASA feed because of a cutaway to the launch control center. Perigee however should stay finite- after engine cutoff the the spacecraft was on a hyperbolic trajectory relative to the earth, and a hyperbola has a well-defined closest approach point to Earth (perigee). The actual value of perigee could go up or down during the burn depending on the burn direction- theoretically I suppose it could end up below the Earth's surface, though it would probably not be fuel-efficient to bend the trajectory in that direction.
John |
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Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 26th September 2024 - 06:38 PM |
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