Mro On Approach, TCM-3 not required |
Mro On Approach, TCM-3 not required |
Feb 3 2006, 11:06 PM
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Member Group: Members Posts: 134 Joined: 13-March 05 Member No.: 191 |
MRO has shifted from the cruise phase to Approach phase. Apparently, the trajectory is so good that TCM-3 was cancelled. This is good news for the prospects for a long life for MRO supporting future missions. TCM-4 is on Feb 28, and MOI on March 10. Only 5 weeks away!
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Feb 27 2006, 04:28 PM
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#2
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Founder Group: Chairman Posts: 14448 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 |
Of course - the reason for having such a low targetting point is because a periapsis that low invokes a fast orbital velocity - thus the ammount of engine braking required is less. If they targetted at say, 1500km, the orbital velocity at that altitude would be much slower so requiring much more delta V.
One day - I hope they'll be brave enough for Aero-capture at Mars. It's a very thin line to tred - +/- 10km will give you a bad day one way or the other, but they're getting to the point where it's possible, I'm sure. Looking at this - http://space.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/wspace?t...orbs=1&showsc=1 Goldstone will be the primary, with Madrid just setting. Doug |
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