Mars Curiosity Rover - Mission Progress

Launch T-2 hours and counting at Atlas Launch Control. Launch window from 15:00pm onwards UK time.

I'm viewing on the Public channel with Flash U-Stream in HD. I'm also using the Mission audio option.

Nasa TV

Still looking good for launch in 30 minutes time, which includes a 10 minute hold at t-5. Weather report is good.

Curiosity

We have lift off and a successful launch. Next stop Mars....

Chris, are you going to be our seti reporter regarding the progress of
Nasa Mars Rover, just like LynnL is for Voyager 1 & II ?

Chris, great news! It will take eight and a half months for Curiosity to make the 345-million-mile journey to Mars.

The Atlas flight lasted almost three-quarters of an hour. By the time of separation and the encapsulated rover was ejected on a path to the Mars, it was moving at 10km/s (6 miles per second). Controllers will command a course correction manoeuvre in two weeks to refine the trajectory to the Red Planet.

"Our spacecraft is in excellent health and it's on its way to Mars", said Curiosity project manager Peter Theisinger. The rover - also known as the Mars Science laboratory (MSL) - is due to arrive at the Red Planet on 6 August 2012. Then, the hard part begins - landing safely.

The Project costed at $2.5bn; will see initial surface operations lasting two Earth years, and on-board plutonium generators will deliver heat and electricity for at least 14 years. However mechanical components are expected to wear out before then.

Chris and Lynn,
The updates on Curiosity would be good.

Anything ye can do to speed up the time it takes to get there guys?

Very exciting mission!
John.
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Hi Johnney,

Well, we did wonder about putting a few drops of the "Black Gold" into the fuel tank, but they politely declined our offer ;-))
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Damsel Rescuer, Kitty Patron, Raccoon Friend, Uli Fan,
Julie Supporter, ES99 Admirer, PETA Member, 1st Childhood

As announced last Friday,

Course Excellent, Adjustment Postponed

PASADENA, Calif. – Excellent launch precision for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission has forestalled the need for an early trajectory correction manoeuver, now not required for a month or more.

That first of six planned course adjustments during the 254-day journey from Earth to Mars had originally been scheduled for 15 days after the mission's Nov. 26 launch on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Now, the correction manoeuver will not be performed until later in December or possibly January.

Mars Science Laboratory Mission Status Report

Trajectory Maneuver Slated for Jan. 11

PASADENA, Calif. -- An engine firing on Jan. 11 will be the biggest maneuver that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft will perform on its flight between Earth and Mars.

The action will use a choreographed sequence of firings of eight thruster engines during a period of about 175 minutes beginning at 3 p.m. PST (6 p.m. EST or 2300 Universal Time). It will redirect the spacecraft more precisely toward Mars to land at Gale Crater. The manoeuver is designed to impart a velocity change of about 12.3 miles per hour (5.5 meters per second).

"We are well into cruise operations, with a well-behaved spacecraft safely on its way to Mars," said Mars Science Laboratory Cruise Mission Manager Arthur Amador, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "After this trajectory correction manoeuver, we expect to be very close to where we ultimately need to be for our entry point at the top of the Martian atmosphere."