Mro On Approach, TCM-3 not required |
Mro On Approach, TCM-3 not required |
Feb 3 2006, 11:06 PM
Post
#101
|
|
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!
|
|
|
Mar 9 2006, 10:41 AM
Post
#102
|
|
Senior Member Group: Moderator Posts: 4279 Joined: 19-April 05 From: .br at .es Member No.: 253 |
This is the approx. timeline of MOI events:
10:24 a.m.: Final trajectory correction maneuver if needed 04:07 p.m.: Start spacecraft turn to orbit-insertion orientation 04:19 p.m.: Turn complete 04:24 p.m.: Orbit insertion rocket firing begins 04:45 p.m.: Spacecraft enters Martian shadow; on battery power 04:47 p.m.: Loss of signal as MRO passes behind Mars 04:51 p.m.: End of orbit insertion burn 05:13 p.m.: Spacecraft turns for Earth pointing 05:16 p.m.: Acquisition of signal There was some discussion here before about the suspense until AOS and the two possible times --actually a range-- for that event, the earlier the worst. My question is if there is really that "suspense" given that 23 of 27min of the firing will be made with MRO on sight i.e. with telemetry data? Off course, there are a lot of bad things that may happen on those later 4 minutes (or even later), but what would happen if the burn is cut short at exactly 23min? Would that be enough to enter orbit -- surely a very excentric one -- and would it be recoverable? If the answer is "yes" the suspense is really not that much, if the answer is "no" (knock on wood) there is actually no suspense, it's a bad day. |
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 1st June 2024 - 08:54 PM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |