Preparing for launch |
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Preparing for launch |
Guest_Oersted_* |
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#46
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#47
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2920 Joined: 14-February 06 From: Very close to the Pyrénées Mountains (France) Member No.: 682 ![]() |
Surely the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator is already in place? I don't think so. See Emily' entry here: http://planetary.org/blog/article/00003217/ She wrote: The MMRTG won't be installed until just a couple of days before the launch, because it throws off so much heat. Once the rover has launched, a cooling system will vent the excess heat to space, but between now and then it takes a pretty powerful cooling system to keep the MMRTG from heating up the interior of the spacecraft to hazardous levels. I was told a while ago that they have three redundant cooling systems working to keep the spacecraft at a safe temperature between MMRTG installation and launch. -------------------- |
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#48
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Founder ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 ![]() |
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Guest_Oersted_* |
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#49
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ah, wauw, thanks for the info.
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#50
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 399 Joined: 28-August 07 From: San Francisco Member No.: 3511 ![]() |
Is the fairing hatch for the MMRTG seen in this view : http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images...11-7261-br2.jpg ?
(near top - gap in acoustic panelling) -------------------- 'She drove until the wheels fell off...'
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#51
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Founder ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 ![]() |
I think so.
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#52
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 153 Joined: 4-May 11 From: Pardubice, CZ Member No.: 5979 ![]() |
I do not think so.
![]() The fairing hatch for the MMRTG should be the big square panel on the bottom right portion of payload fairing (PLF) on this picture. I'm guessing the purpose of piping with downward pointing nozzles inside the firing is airconditioning - it should blow cool air onto heat radiators on the rim of cruise stage. IMHO, this two features should clearly determine the spacecraft position in PLF. Btw. this is just upper part of the complete PLF. I gestimate it's the Short version - 13,3 m hight. The Lower part that covers the Centaur upper stage is 7,4 m high. All together it will be 20,7 meters long PLF. |
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#53
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Founder ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 ![]() |
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#54
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 540 Joined: 25-October 05 From: California Member No.: 535 ![]() |
-------------------- 2011 JPL Tweetup photos: http://www.rich-parno.com/aa_jpltweetup.html
http://human-spaceflight.blogspot.com |
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#55
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 153 Joined: 4-May 11 From: Pardubice, CZ Member No.: 5979 ![]() |
MSL payload fairing's got nice NASA & mission logos on Tuesday and has been attached to its Atlas V yesterday morning.
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#56
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Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 153 Joined: 4-May 11 From: Pardubice, CZ Member No.: 5979 ![]() |
Not sure if this is the best thread to share this info but I'd like to notify that December's issue of SKY & TELESCOPE contains nice Emily's article Face To Face with a Giant about her "close encounter" with Curiosity rover in JPL.
7 pages web preview: http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newtrack/st_201112/#/22 |
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#57
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![]() Member ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 753 Joined: 23-October 04 From: Greensboro, NC USA Member No.: 103 ![]() |
I was within a couple of miles of the launch complex out at CCAFS this morning. I gave Curiosity a thumbs up, "you go, girl!" on behalf of all of us!
-------------------- Jonathan Ward
Manning the LCC at http://www.apollolaunchcontrol.com |
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#58
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 ![]() |
NASA to Hold Media Briefing About Mars Rover Launch
QUOTE November 08, 2011
PASADENA, Calif. -- NASA will hold a news conference at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST), Thursday, Nov. 10, to discuss the upcoming launch of the Mars Science Laboratory, with the largest and most capable rover going to another planet. The televised event will take place at NASA Headquarters in Washington and will be carried live on NASA TV and Ustream. The Mars Science Laboratory mission is scheduled to launch at 7:25 a.m. PST (10:25 a.m. EST), on Nov. 25. The launch period extends to Dec. 18. The spacecraft will deliver a car-size rover named Curiosity to the surface of Mars in August 2012. News conference participants are: -- Doug McCuistion, director, Mars Program, NASA Headquarters, Washington -- Ashwin Vasavada, Mars Science Laboratory deputy project scientist, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. -- Pete Theisinger, Mars Science Laboratory project manager, JPL NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information is at: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv . The news conference will also be carried on JPL's Ustream channel, with a moderated chat, at http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl. For more information about the new rover, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for NASA. -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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#59
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![]() Senior Member ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Members Posts: 2228 Joined: 1-December 04 From: Marble Falls, Texas, USA Member No.: 116 ![]() |
The press conference has apparently been delayed 15 minutes...
![]() -------------------- ...Tom
I'm not a Space Fan, I'm a Space Exploration Enthusiast. |
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#60
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Founder ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Group: Chairman Posts: 14432 Joined: 8-February 04 Member No.: 1 ![]() |
That it was 15 mins 'late' was shared via social media and the NASA TV schedule several hours before the press conf.
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