Nov 10 2011

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY: 11-379 NASA READY FOR NOVEMBER LAUNCH OF CAR-SIZED MARS ROVER

WASHINGTON -- NASA's most advanced mobile robotic laboratory, which will examine one of the most intriguing areas on Mars, is in final preparations for a launch from Florida's Space Coast at 10:25 a.m. EST on Nov. 25. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission will carry Curiosity, a rover with more scientific capability than any ever sent to another planet. The rover is now sitting atop an Atlas V rocket awaiting liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. "Preparations are on track for launching at our first opportunity," said Pete Theisinger, MSL project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "If weather or other factors prevent launching then, we have more opportunities through Dec. 18." Scheduled to land on the Red Planet in August 2012, the one-ton rover will examine Gale Crater during a nearly two-year prime mission. Curiosity will land near the base of a layered mountain 3 miles (5 kilometers) high inside the crater. The rover will investigate whether environmental conditions ever have been favorable for development of microbial life and preserved evidence of those conditions. "Gale gives us a superb opportunity to test multiple potentially habitable environments and the context to understand a very long record of early environmental evolution of the planet," said John Grotzinger, project scientist for MSL at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "The portion of the crater where Curiosity will land has an alluvial fan likely formed by water-carried sediments. Layers at the base of the mountain contain clays and sulfates, both known to form in water." Curiosity is twice as long and five times as heavy as earlier Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity. The rover will carry a set of 10 science instruments weighing 15 times as much as its predecessors' science payloads. A mast extending to 7 feet (2.1 meters) above ground provides height for cameras and a laser-firing instrument to study targets from a distance. Instruments on a 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) arm will study targets up close. Analytical instruments inside the rover will determine the composition of rock and soil samples acquired with the arm's powdering drill and scoop. Other instruments will characterize the environment, including the weather and natural radiation that will affect future human missions. "Mars Science Laboratory builds upon the improved understanding about Mars gained from current and recent missions," said Doug McCuistion, director of the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This mission advances technologies and science that will move us toward missions to return samples from and eventually send humans to Mars." The mission is challenging and risky. Because Curiosity is too heavy to use an air-bag cushioned touchdown, the mission will use a new landing method, with a rocket-powered descent stage lowering the rover on a tether like a kind of sky-crane. The mission will pioneer these precision landing methods during the spacecraft's crucial dive through Mars' atmosphere next August to place the rover onto a smaller landing target than any previously for a Mars mission. The target inside Gale Crater is 12.4 miles (20 kilometers) by 15.5 miles (25 kilometers). Rough terrain just outside that area would have disqualified the landing site without the improved precision. No mission to Mars since the Viking landers in the 1970s has sought a direct answer to the question of whether life has existed on Mars. Curiosity is not designed to answer that question by itself, but its investigations for evidence about prerequisites for life will steer potential future missions toward answers. The mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Curiosity was designed, developed and assembled at JPL. Launch management for the mission is the responsibility of NASA's Launch Services Program at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. NASA's Space Network, managed by the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., will provide space communications services for the rocket. NASA's Deep Space Network will provide MSL spacecraft acquisition and communication throughout the mission.

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-232 NASA SETS MSL/ATLAS V LAUNCH COVERAGE EVENTS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft with the Curiosity rover is set to launch to the planet Mars aboard an Atlas V rocket on Nov. 25, 2011 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch window extends from 10:25 a.m. to 12:08 p.m. EST. The launch period for MSL extends through Dec. 18. The spacecraft will arrive at Mars in August 2012. Curiosity has 10 science instruments to search for evidence about whether Mars had environments favorable for microbial life, including the chemical ingredients for life. The unique rover will use a laser to look inside rocks and release their gasses so that a spectrometer can analyze them and send the data back to Earth. Briefings about the mission are scheduled throughout the week leading to launch and will be held at the Kennedy Space Center's Press Site. Science Briefings and Prelaunch News Conference (all times are EST) Monday, Nov. 21, 1 p.m.: "What Do We Know About Mars?" Participants will be: Michael Meyer, lead scientist, Mars Exploration Program NASA Headquarters, Washington John Grotzinger, project scientist, Mars Science Laboratory California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Bethany Ehlmann, scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory Assistant professor, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Tuesday, Nov. 22, 11 a.m.: "Looking for Signs of Life in the Universe" Participants will be: Mary Voytek, director, Astrobiology Program NASA Headquarters, Washington Jamie Foster, professor, Department of Microbiology and Cell Science University of Florida, Gainesville Pan Conrad, deputy principle investigator, Sample Analysis at Mars, MSL NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Steven Benner, director, Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution Gainesville, Fla. Catharine Conley, planetary protection officer NASA Headquarters, Washington Tuesday, Nov. 22, 1 p.m.: Prelaunch News Conference Participants will be: Colleen Hartman, assistant associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate NASA Headquarters, Washington Omar Baez, NASA launch director NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla. Vernon Thorp, program manager, NASA Missions United Launch Alliance, Denver, Colo. Peter Theisinger, MSL project manager Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Clay Flinn, launch weather officer 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Curiosity Mission Science Briefing: This briefing will immediately follow the prelaunch news conference. Participating in the briefing will be: Michael Meyer, lead scientist for Mars Exploration Program NASA Headquarters, Washington John Grotzinger, project scientist for Mars Science Laboratory California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif. Paul Mahaffy, principal investigator for Sample Analysis at Mars investigation on Curiosity NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. David Blake, principal investigator for Chemistry and Mineralogy investigation on Curiosity NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. Michael Malin, principal investigator for the Mast Camera and Mars Descent Imager investigations on Curiosity, Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Roger Wiens, principal investigator for Chemistry and Camera investigation on Curiosity Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, N.M. Wednesday, Nov. 23, 1 p.m.: "Why Mars Excites and Inspires Us" Participants will be: Leland Melvin, associate administrator for Education NASA Headquarters, Washington Scott Anderson, teacher and science department chairman, Da Vinci School for Science & the Arts, El Paso, Texas Clara Ma, student, NASA contest winner for naming Curiosity Shawnee Mission East High School, Prairie Village, Kansas Veronica McGregor, manager, Media Relations Office, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2 p.m.: "Missions to Mars: Robotics and Humans Together" (Originating from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston) Doug Ming, manager, Human Exploration Science Office; MSL Co-Investigator NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston Bret Drake, deputy chief architect, Human Spaceflight Architecture Team NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston Matt Ondler, assistant director, Advanced Project Development NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston Mike Gernhardt, NASA astronaut NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston Dr. John Charles, program scientist, Human Research Program NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston A post-launch news conference will be held at the NASA News Center approximately two and a half hours after launch. Question-and-answer capability for all briefings will be available from other NASA field centers. Atlas V Launch Vehicle Rollout Wednesday, Nov. 23: There will be a media opportunity to observe the rollout of the Atlas V rocket from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad. A post-launch news conference will be held at the Kennedy press site approximately 2 ½ hours after launch. A post-launch news release will be issued as soon as the health of MSL is confirmed. Spokespeople also will be available at the press site to answer questions and do interviews. The Atlas V launch service is provided by United Launch Alliance, Denver, Colo.