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KingCobra

8th Jun 03 01:31 PM

Not sure how many of you know or are interested, but here you go:

Quote:

Reuters) - The first of a pair of robots is ready to launch from Cape Canaveral on Sunday, joining a scientific armada headed for Mars in an international effort to determine if life exists or ever existed on Earth's neighbor. The first of two Mars Expedition Rovers, robots about the size of riding lawn mowers, sat atop a Delta 2 rocket scheduled for launch at 2:05 p.m. EDT on Sunday. Its twin is scheduled for launch on June 25. They join Japanese and European satellites on their way to the red planet and two NASA satellites already orbiting Mars

Here is a nice picture sequence of the way they want things to happen.

Code:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission/launch_e_sequenceDef.html

Here's a site I found that has a countdown clock. I'm sure NASA has one somewhere on their site, but I didn't see one. Current 5hr & 30 minutes to launch.

Code:

http://www.space.com/marsrover/

KingCobra

8th Jun 03 05:36 PM

:angry: CRAP!

Launch postponed 24 hours due to bad weather. :(

Code:

http://www.space.com/marsrover/

Cactus

8th Jun 03 10:04 PM

Uhm, that explains it.

/me was watching the picture (

Code:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mer/mission/images/mer_pad.jpg

) for a while now, but nothing seem to happen :P

It's always exiting to see what man is able to do, sending such a HUGE thing out to mars. I hope this one goes better then the earlier attempt Everyone: Keep you fingers crossed till it lands ;)

KingCobra

8th Jun 03 10:37 PM

Quote:

Delta II comprises a large and growing family of expendable rockets that can be configured as two- or three-stage vehicles, depending on mission needs. Delta II payload delivery options range from about 1-2 metric tons (1,980 to 4,550 lb) to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) and 2.7 to 5.8 metric tons (6,020 to 12,820 lb) to low-Earth orbit (LEO). Two-stage Delta II rockets typically fly LEO missions, while three-stage Delta II vehicles generally deliver payloads to GTO or are used for deep space explorations such as NASA's recent Mars missions.

:o WOW!

Edit - Here's something to think about. I always heard that we didn't want to leave any junk up in space, not even a nut or bolt. Take a look at this:

Quote:

The metal shell (fairings) covering the spacecraft is discarded shortly after second stage ignition.

adams

9th Jun 03 04:29 PM

today it says june 9 is the launch date, but today is june 9 and it says it has 1 day, 2 hours, 30 minutes left. guess there is bad weather again or something.

KingCobra

11th Jun 03 09:58 AM

Quote:

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A Boeing Delta 2 rocket has successfully sped NASA's Mars rover Spirit out of Earth orbit to begin a seven-month journey to the Red Planet.

Finding a hole in cloudy skies over Florida's Space Coast, the three-stage booster lifted off at 1:58:47 p.m. EDT (1758.47 GMT) Tuesday.

Spirit is due to arrive at Mars on Jan. 24, 2004. Its twin rover spacecraft, now called Opportunity, is to be launched June 25 and arrive at the Red Planet on Jan. 25, bouncing onto the sandy surface with the help of parachutes, retro rockets and inflated balloons.

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