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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ MSL _ Preparing for launch

Posted by: toddbronco2 Jun 21 2011, 04:35 PM

The view from the High Bay viewing gallery this morning.


Posted by: ugordan Jun 21 2011, 04:47 PM

Ha!

Posted by: KrisK Jun 21 2011, 09:10 PM

There are some new pictures in KSC gallery:

Installation of ejectable* ballast masses.


Spin test


*@Oersted yes my mistake wink.gif

Posted by: Oersted Jun 21 2011, 09:17 PM

Thx for the pics!

Posted by: eoincampbell Jun 22 2011, 05:45 AM

Love that Spin Test photo, seems like those engineers have thoughts for hitching a lift smile.gif

Posted by: punkboi Jun 22 2011, 05:53 AM

Looks more like those engineers are taking a break and watching a movie off-screen or something tongue.gif

Posted by: KrisK Jun 23 2011, 08:40 PM

MSL & Descent stage both arrived at Florida:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-191

Photos:
http://yfrog.com/kk21rrmj
http://yfrog.com/kk2kbrj

-Descent stage


-MSL


Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jun 23 2011, 09:59 PM

-

 

Posted by: nprev Jun 24 2011, 01:11 AM

The USAF C-17: When it absolutely, positively, has to meet a launch date.... wink.gif

Posted by: Oersted Jun 27 2011, 12:15 AM

So a lowly fork lift was the first stage of this space mission... smile.gif

Posted by: nprev Jun 27 2011, 12:36 AM

We do all tend to forget the critical importance of logistics. Not glamorous, of course, but BEYOND vital.

Posted by: KrisK Jun 28 2011, 09:07 PM

Unpacking descent stage @ KSC:



More: http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=4

Posted by: djellison Jun 29 2011, 12:24 AM

KrisK - there's no need to embed the images inline in the thread. Moreover, your link is to the hot-images catagory at KSC, so those images wont be in it in a day or three.

Far better to link the image info pages, so as to retain access to the higher resolution images and the appropriate credit and description..i.e.

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=54061



Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jun 29 2011, 12:36 AM

-

 

Posted by: nprev Jun 29 2011, 01:27 AM

laugh.gif

Posted by: MahFL Jun 29 2011, 10:46 AM

I have few of questions about the desent stage thrusters.
Are all 8 used in the landing ?
Why are the thrusters in each pair pointing in different directions ?
What happens if the thrust is not enough ?


Thanks.

Also I read the thrusters run at 107 %, which seems an odd figure to me.

Posted by: paxdan Jun 29 2011, 11:20 AM

Yes
For stability
Lithobraking

100% is the original engine rating. 107% represents a 7% performance increase over the original design spec.

Posted by: MahFL Jun 29 2011, 11:29 AM

I assume safe landing could be made with less than 100 % thrust, and any extra needed then would be available ?

Posted by: centsworth_II Jun 29 2011, 01:05 PM

QUOTE (MahFL @ Jun 29 2011, 05:46 AM) *
I have few of questions about the desent stage thrusters.
Just going by the animation, all eight thrusters are firing at release from the back-shell but the four inner ones shutdown shortly thereafter. I only see the outer four thrusters firing from then on even at descent stage flyaway. I also don't see any movement of the nozzles so their orientation looks fixed. But all I know is what I see in the video.



Posted by: djellison Jun 29 2011, 01:51 PM

QUOTE (MahFL @ Jun 29 2011, 03:46 AM) *
I have few of questions about the desent stage thrusters......


This document has much of the info you require... it has been linked to before from this forum. Anyone serious about understanding MSL EDL would find it via google quite easily.
http://trs-new.jpl.nasa.gov/dspace/handle/2014/41629

In particular

"Beginning at an altitude of approximately 50 m above the surface, the PDV begins the constant deceleration segment. During this sub-segment, the PDV is decelerated from 20 m/s to 0.75 m/s. This is done at a constant deceleration rate
roughly equivalent to 90% throttle setting......
Throttle Down
At this point in the landing sequence, more than half of the initial 400 kg of fuel has been consumed. In order to maintain thrust equal to weight, the MLEs would need to be throttled back to thrust levels on the order of 20-25%. Since the MLEs operate less efficiently at these throttle settings, four of the MLEs are throttled back to their near- shutdown condition of 1%. This allows the four remaining MLEs to function in the more efficient range of 50% throttle.
The transition from eight to four MLEs introduces disturbances to the system. Therefore, a 2.5 second period of time is allotted for the disturbances to settle allowing for predictable and stable conditions for the next major segment of the landing: Sky Crane."


QUOTE
What happens if the thrust is not enough


Then the project doesn't get through Preliminary Design Review. That was about 5 years ago. What a strange question.

107% sounds like the Space Shuttle thrust level. Where did you read that the MSL MLE's would be running at 107%?

Posted by: MahFL Jun 29 2011, 02:52 PM

It was a wrong assumption by me the thrusters would be running full tilt all the time.

Posted by: djellison Jun 29 2011, 03:05 PM

How could that possibly work anyway - the vehicle is always getting lighter and needs to come to a near hover for the sky-crane phase.

Even Phoenix, which had constant thrust engines, pulsed them to manage the total 'thrust' provided.

Posted by: g4ayu Jul 18 2011, 06:28 PM

Looks like a lot of activity at the Cape today.

 

Posted by: peter59 Jul 29 2011, 07:40 PM

Mars Science Laboratory's page is slightly changed. Changes are not great, but quite important.
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/
If anyone did not noticed, here is the most important fragment of new page.


Seriously, I did not know that the launch date is so precisely determined. 118 days, when will it be? Nov 24 ?

Posted by: djellison Jul 29 2011, 08:00 PM

QUOTE (peter59 @ Jul 29 2011, 12:40 PM) *
Seriously, I did not know that the launch date is so precisely determined. 118 days, when will it be? Nov 24 ?


Each launch opportunity, within the launch window, is calculated to the second, years in advance.

Posted by: Lewis007 Aug 2 2011, 07:54 AM

The first and Centaur stages of the Atlas-V rocket (to be used for the MSL launch) have arrived at KSC.
Pictures available at the KSC gallery page http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/


 

Posted by: sgendreau Aug 2 2011, 03:37 PM

QUOTE (peter59 @ Jul 29 2011, 12:40 PM) *
Seriously, I did not know that the launch date is so precisely determined.


The EDL team's common area has two large countdown clocks, one to launch, one to landing. Both count down by seconds. Flick flick flick flick....

Posted by: Drkskywxlt Aug 4 2011, 11:25 PM

Just got to see and stand near MSL's engineering model at JPL and it is AWESOME! Beast of a thing.

Was interesting to find out that it's actually run off the batteries the whole time and the RTG just keeps the battery fully charged. Tour was by Scott Maxwell and one of the project scientists...the scientist said 14-16 years of operations is certainly possible...as is driving OUT of Gale. Now let's just launch and land this thing smile.gif

Posted by: pospa Aug 7 2011, 01:05 PM

Whose was this idea? Somebody we know here? rolleyes.gif
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=15026.0;attach=321974;image as "Official Unofficial MSL Mascot" at KSC Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility.
Good choice, I love it ! biggrin.gif


Posted by: cIclops Aug 8 2011, 04:45 PM

Video of Curiosity flight hardware being prepared for launch at KSC with detailed views of the arm and mobility system: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEhfEZZhKa0

Posted by: nprev Aug 8 2011, 11:36 PM

QUOTE (pospa @ Aug 7 2011, 05:05 AM) *
Whose was this idea? Somebody we know here? rolleyes.gif


Nah...They just have EXTREMELY good taste!!! tongue.gif

Posted by: pospa Sep 1 2011, 01:11 PM

Due to longer tests of EDL phase during August the spacecraft will be encapsulated four days later in October than originally scheduled.
If launch timeline will be affected by that should be clear in 2 weeks. unsure.gif

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1149

Posted by: climber Sep 13 2011, 08:47 PM

Atlas stacking underway: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av028/110912stacking/index1.html

Posted by: punkboi Oct 5 2011, 06:32 PM

MSL launch prep page now up on the KSC Media Gallery:

http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/search.cfm?cat=237

Posted by: Airbag Oct 6 2011, 06:10 PM

Some really detailed photos there; thanks for the heads up. I'm just drooling over those close ups!

Interesting to note that that the two rockets in each pair are not quite pointed in the same direction; I would hazard a guess that the ones pointing slightly more "outward" are the ones used at the end (to minimize the blast effects on any surface dust).

And the wheels are covered in Mylar (or something similar to that) - I can't imagine they will be left like that; surely that must be to keep them as clean as possible until right before final packing up? If the covering is left on then it is bound to be shredded through use on Mars which would be very bad to then have lots of little pieces of insulation floating around.

Airbag

Posted by: djellison Oct 6 2011, 06:32 PM

QUOTE (Airbag @ Oct 6 2011, 11:10 AM) *
I would hazard a guess that the ones pointing slightly more "outward" are the ones used at the end (to minimize the blast effects on any surface dust).


Exactly that - the proj. animation reflects that. What it doesn't show is the jolt the system gets transitioning from all 8 to just the final four in prep for the skycrane maneuver.

And, I think the mylar's coming off....probably just contamination control and esd protection.

Posted by: pospa Oct 6 2011, 08:07 PM

QUOTE
And, I think the mylar's coming off....probably just contamination control and esd protection.
Correct, see the latest mission http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/news/whatsnew/index.cfm?FuseAction=ShowNews&NewsID=1159 and this http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=3666&NewsInfo=59C884BFF2B8E0EFC8DA0AB94F94BA55AC4A8F9603007CDBC54D50EBAAD1D98EDF99DEDBECDFDF46C05A90E5C881C64FC7919A519C in full res. Itīs maybe the last view of MSL before closing it completely into aeroshell.
All mylars from wheels and RBF covers are off the rover and sky crane.

Posted by: pospa Oct 6 2011, 08:23 PM

QUOTE (punkboi @ Oct 5 2011, 08:32 PM) *
MSL launch prep page now up on the KSC Media Gallery
Interesting to look a bit into the history there. I didn't know before, that MMRTG is at KSC since June already. (see page 11,12)


Posted by: punkboi Oct 7 2011, 06:56 PM

QUOTE (Airbag @ Oct 6 2011, 10:10 AM) *
And the wheels are covered in Mylar (or something similar to that) - I can't imagine they will be left like that; surely that must be to keep them as clean as possible until right before final packing up?


The Mylar is now removed. The photo on the JPL page linked below shows the wheels nice and black just as the rover is about to be enclosed by the heat shield:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-313

Posted by: climber Oct 14 2011, 07:39 PM

Atlas 5 getting ready: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av028/status.html


Posted by: pospa Oct 24 2011, 08:14 AM

All MSL elements assembly (except MMRTG and some covers) is complete.



Do we know what's on schedule / preparation checklist for following 5 weeks prior to launch?
Thx

Posted by: vikingmars Oct 24 2011, 11:25 AM

...And "The Thinker" from Rodin, meditating on MSL's future success, was there too (upper left corner) laugh.gif


Posted by: john_s Oct 24 2011, 07:20 PM

Glad he's wearing a bunny suit over his traditional outfit!

John

Posted by: ilbasso Oct 24 2011, 07:50 PM

Hopefully he's not thinking, "Now where did I leave that wrench?"

Posted by: nprev Oct 25 2011, 01:42 AM

laugh.gif ....no worries, Jonathon; the tool accountability procedures are undoubtedly VERY strict.

Even on aircraft (which you can actually fix later on, 'cause they come back) they are quite stringent; a lost tool is a BIG deal.

Posted by: Oersted Oct 25 2011, 08:40 PM

QUOTE (pospa @ Oct 24 2011, 10:14 AM) *
All MSL elements assembly (except MMRTG and some covers) is complete.


Surely the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator is already in place?

Posted by: climber Oct 25 2011, 09:02 PM

QUOTE (Oersted @ Oct 25 2011, 10:40 PM) *
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.

Posted by: djellison Oct 25 2011, 09:27 PM

QUOTE (Oersted @ Oct 25 2011, 01:40 PM) *
Surely the Multi-Mission Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator is already in place?


It gets installed, thru the fairing and the backshell, once the rocket is on the launch pad.



Posted by: Oersted Oct 26 2011, 01:31 PM

ah, wauw, thanks for the info.

Posted by: eoincampbell Oct 26 2011, 09:48 PM

Is the fairing hatch for the MMRTG seen in this view : http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/images/msl20111025_2011-7261-br2.jpg ?
(near top - gap in acoustic panelling)

Posted by: djellison Oct 26 2011, 11:16 PM

I think so.

Posted by: pospa Oct 27 2011, 09:20 AM

I do not think so. wink.gif
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.

Posted by: djellison Oct 27 2011, 02:33 PM

QUOTE (pospa @ Oct 27 2011, 01:20 AM) *
The fairing hatch for the MMRTG should be the big square panel on the bottom right portion of payload fairing (PLF) on this picture.


Sorry - yes - that's what I was agreeing with. I hadn't spotted Eoin's reference to the tiny gap in insulation near the top.



Posted by: punkboi Oct 28 2011, 07:03 AM

MSL is now encapsulated by the Atlas V's payload fairing

 

Posted by: pospa Nov 4 2011, 08:43 AM

MSL payload fairing's got nice NASA & mission logos on Tuesday and has been attached to its Atlas V yesterday morning.


Posted by: pospa Nov 4 2011, 09:01 AM

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

Posted by: ilbasso Nov 6 2011, 10:15 PM

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!

Posted by: CosmicRocker Nov 10 2011, 05:33 AM

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-344b&cid=release_2011-344b


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.

Posted by: CosmicRocker Nov 10 2011, 06:13 PM

The press conference has apparently been delayed 15 minutes...

sad.gif

Posted by: djellison Nov 10 2011, 07:08 PM

That it was 15 mins 'late' was shared via social media and the NASA TV schedule several hours before the press conf.

Posted by: Oersted Nov 10 2011, 10:50 PM

And here you have the briefing, courtesy of the superb space-multimedia.nl.eu.org-site:

http://www.space-multimedia.nl.eu.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7197:msl-l-30-launch-status-briefing&catid=1:latest

Posted by: Oersted Nov 10 2011, 11:06 PM

A question: what is the purpose of the white circumferential panels on the cruise stage?

Posted by: CosmicRocker Nov 11 2011, 12:04 AM

QUOTE (djellison @ Nov 10 2011, 01:08 PM) *
That it was 15 mins 'late' was shared via social media and the NASA TV schedule several hours before the press conf.

I'm not sure which NASA TV schedule you were looking at, but http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/schedule.html still has not changed, and neither has the http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2011-344b&cid=release_2011-344b.

Posted by: djellison Nov 11 2011, 12:13 AM

QUOTE (Oersted @ Nov 10 2011, 03:06 PM) *
A question: what is the purpose of the white circumferential panels on the cruise stage?



Radiators. As with Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity - the avionics within the aeroshell generate heat. With MSL, they generate a lot of heat as it includes the RTG.

Freon cooling loops go around the rover, out thru the aeroshell into the cruise stage and out to the radiators where that heat is rejected into space.

If you look at the MSL fairing - you can see a ring of small cooling ducts that will be wafting those radiators with air before launch.


Doug

Posted by: Roby72 Nov 11 2011, 05:36 AM

At which time they will connect the RTGs to the spacecraft ?

Robert

Posted by: djellison Nov 11 2011, 07:29 AM

Next week.


Posted by: Oersted Nov 11 2011, 08:31 PM

Thanks for the info Doug.

Posted by: cIclops Nov 18 2011, 10:34 AM

Getting ready for launch!

http://youtu.be/vmnzUzxq2n4

Posted by: pospa Nov 18 2011, 02:00 PM

MMRTG has been installed yesterday (2011-11-17).
This morning the final power-up has happend and since that moment MSL is on its own power ... and will be till the end of its (her) days.

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av028/111117mmrtg/

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Nov 18 2011, 06:18 PM

"There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head, he began to dance around."


Happy Birthday Curiosity!

Posted by: nprev Nov 18 2011, 10:38 PM

Very glad that this particular hat is firmly bolted on with closeout inspections.

I am growing quite excited for launch now. smile.gif

Posted by: elakdawalla Nov 19 2011, 09:32 PM

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html, to replace suspect battery on Atlas 5 rocket.

Which means (if this launch day sticks) that I may miss some critical post-launch events because I will be attending "Yo Gabba Gabba Live" with my kids...

Posted by: nprev Nov 19 2011, 09:39 PM

Glad they caught this fairly early, as such things go. Does anyone know what the function of this particular battery is? IIRC, there is one for utility vehicle DC & one dedicated to the abort/destruct system.


Well, at least my daughter won't be berating me for causing any delay to her Black Friday shopping... rolleyes.gif

Posted by: Stu Nov 19 2011, 09:44 PM

Oh NO!!! I'll be at work! It was *perfect* before!! Change it back! Change it back!!!

sad.gif sad.gif

Posted by: ugordan Nov 19 2011, 10:10 PM

QUOTE (nprev @ Nov 19 2011, 10:39 PM) *
Does anyone know what the function of this particular battery is? IIRC, there is one for utility vehicle DC & one dedicated to the abort/destruct system.

It's the Flight Termination System battery. Completely separate from the rest of the vehicle as you say.

Posted by: Explorer1 Nov 19 2011, 10:10 PM

It says 'flight termination system battery' on that page so it's probably the latter, nprev.

Posted by: nprev Nov 19 2011, 10:31 PM

Ah. Thanks, guys.

For some odd reason that seems to be the one that goes bad most frequently on the Atlas & Delta families. Maybe it's because they don't experience as many charge/discharge cycles during pre-launch testing?

If memory serves (and, knowing me, it probably doesn't) they had to replace a flight termination system battery on the booster for one of the MERs as well.

Posted by: ugordan Nov 19 2011, 10:35 PM

It could be because the requirements for the FTS system are much more stringent than for other components. Of all the systems and subsystems onboard, that one must be guaranteed to work at all times and in the most severe off-nominal conditions to ensure public safety if anything goes wrong.

Posted by: nprev Nov 19 2011, 10:39 PM

Good point, G. There is a fairly significant metropolitan area surrounding the Cape these days, and Vandenberg is a scant 160 km or so from the sprawling LA metro area....25 million people.

Yeah, you're gonna want that battery to work if it's needed. wink.gif

Posted by: James Sorenson Nov 23 2011, 05:07 AM

Question: After browsing through the KSC Multimedia images of MSL, and looking at the images of the MMRTG lifting, I am perplexed as to why the MMRTG is completley exposed to the atmosphere. For cooling I can understand, but how is any earthly or air particulate contamination not of concern? I hope it was wiped down good with isopropyl alcohol just prior to installation with the rover huh.gif .

Posted by: Oersted Nov 23 2011, 01:01 PM

The cooling circuit is surely well-insulated. As for the rest: well, added weight is added weight, so there is absolutely no unnecessary shielding on the rovers. Which give them that fantastic home-made look...

Posted by: nprev Nov 23 2011, 01:17 PM

Not sure of the methods employed, but I'm certain that they are following the Planetary Protection Protocols (PPP).

Let's give the actual rocket scientists the benefit of the doubt, shall we? rolleyes.gif

Posted by: Leither Nov 24 2011, 10:03 PM

http://planetaryprotection.nasa.gov/methods/

provides a good description of the methods used to reduce spacecraft microbial contamination. Unfortunately/fortunately Pu-238 being an alpha emitter, the MMRTG won't self-sterilize! wink.gif

Posted by: pospa Dec 5 2011, 08:38 AM

Another potential planetary protection "issue" - not ultraclean drill bits, was mentioned http://www.space.com/13783-nasa-msl-curiosity-mars-rover-planetary-protection.html.
Since MSL is not life-detection mission could this be any seriouse problem when rock interior sampling?

Posted by: nprev Dec 5 2011, 10:35 AM

No, not at all.

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