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MAVEN – MOI

22 Sep

MAVEN entered orbit around Mars at 10:24 p.m.EDT Sunday, Sept 21, 2014.

MAVEN during Mars Obit Insertion - MOI Image courtesy of NASA.com

Artists rendering of MAVEN after Mars Obit Insertion – MOI
Image courtesy of NASA.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After launching on Nov. 18, 2013 and a 10 month trip covering 442 million miles the MAVEN Spacecraft successfully entered its initial orbit. The trajectory calculations were so accurate the third and fourth correction maneuvers were not needed. Cheers went up from the mission support at Lockheed Martin in Littleton, Colorado when confirmation was received from MAVEN.

The MAVEN Project has taken 11 years from concept to reaching orbit. during the next six weeks, MAVEN will be maneuvered into its final orbit path. The hard part is over, but now the science begins.

Sampling the atmosphere at various altitudes around Mars,scientists at the University of Colorado and other facilities, hope to obtain a better understanding as to what happened to the martian atmosphere over time. The primary mission will take one year to complete. It will also provide better understanding of the habitability of mars with future manned missions in the 2030’s.

Congratulations, goes out to the entire MAVEN Project team for getting the bird into orbit!!!

Congrats, Pat. Thanks for the belated birthday present. 🙂

See previous posts on the MAVEN Project here.

 
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Posted by on September 22, 2014 in MAVEN

 

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MAVEN Update – 9/11/14

11 Sep

Ten days until MAVEN is placed into orbit around Mars.

Artists concept of the MAVEN Spacecraft - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Artists concept of the MAVEN Spacecraft – Courtesy of Wikipedia

On November 18th of 2013, I had the enormous pleasure to witness the launch of this space mission along side members of the project team. Our viewing site was at the base of the Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center. It was a bucket list event to say the least.

Since then MAVEN has been hurtling toward Mars at over 27,000 miles an hour. All in-flight tests to date have been successful and the control center is buzzing with anticipation of the September 21st when, at 10:23 PM MST, MAVEN will be placed into orbit around the Red Planet. The process is described in this YouTube video.

I am always amazed by the science and mathematics involved in these projects. If the numbers used to calculate the trajectory of Mars, the Earth, or Maven are off, or the length of burn to enter orbit, a multi-million dollar scientific instrument can become just so much space junk. That’s why the term ‘failure is not an option’ is so closely related to the space program.

I am proud of the team who have spent years preparing for this. And, though I will not be able to sit in the control room as MAVEN enters orbit, rest assured that I will be glued to the NASA channel on my television. You will hear me cheering as the final corrections are made. Join with me in celebrating an achievement of dedicated people seeking knowledge that will help us understand one of the mysteries of space and perhaps understand our own planet.

If you are interested in my previous posts on the MAVEN Project, they can be found here.

 
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Posted by on September 11, 2014 in MAVEN

 

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MAVEN – update

10 Jul
Artists concept of the MAVEN Spacecraft - Courtesy of Wikipedia

Artists concept of the MAVEN Spacecraft – Courtesy of Wikipedia

Seventy-one days until the MAVEN spacecraft is placed into orbit around Mars. All systems are functioning as planned for the September 21st orbit insertion. Three days later, the MOM orbiter from India is scheduled to be placed into Mars orbit. That will bring the number of spacecraft from Earth occupying Mars to seven. It will be a busy September for Earth’s scientists.

To view previous posts on the MAVEN project, click here.

 
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Posted by on July 10, 2014 in MAVEN

 

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MAVEN – update

21 Oct

I stated in a previous post that my brother is involved on the MAVEN space project which is scheduled to launch in November. I thought I would provide a little background on the project and as the launch date approaches, give you some accounting of the launch prep and firsthand impressions of the launch itself.

T minus twenty-eight days and counting!

M- Mars

A- Atmosphere

V- Volatile

E- EvolutioN

The goal of MAVEN is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time. Where did the atmosphere – and the water – go?

MAVEN will determine how much of the Martian atmosphere has been lost over time by measuring the current rate of escape to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes to allow extrapolation backward in time. – NASA website.

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft is currently at the Kennedy Space Center undergoing thorough tests of software and hardware systems. You can view launch preparations live on NASA’s Kennedy Space Center webcams at: http://countdown.ksc.nasa.gov/elv/. (Note – This link requires a JAVA download.) These activities are in preparation for a November 18 launch date.

The MAVEN spacecraft must be able to orient itself, aim its instruments in the right direction, carry out steering maneuvers to communicate with Earth and stay on its Mars-bound course. The processing team must verify critical systems to insure the spacecraft will be able to perform these tasks during its journey. MAVEN’s steering thrusters and star-tracker guidance system were previously tested and final flight software installed. At approximately 5,400 pounds, it takes and big launch vehicle to put it into a trajectory to reach Mars in ten months.

The Atlas V 401 rocket that will launch MAVEN toward Mars arrived in Florida on Aug. 26. The rocket, built by United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colo., will stand nearly 200 feet tall when fully assembled.

Atlas V (401) launches with Iro and Icross Satellites

An Atlas V (401) launches with satellite

According to the NASA website, MAVEN will not be rolling about on the surface looking for clues to the planet’s heritage. Instead, MAVEN will orbit high above the Red Planet in the upper atmosphere searching for signs of what changed over the eons and why.

The mission will use instruments that can pinpoint trace amounts of chemicals high above Mars. The results are expected to test theories that the sun’s energy slowly eroded nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water from the Martian atmosphere to leave it the dry, desolate world seen today.

That kinda sounds like global warming, doesn’t it? However, I want to stick to the facts and not speculate on what the mission may or may not find out. Some of the details regarding the project management are really cool. Talk about a deadline, if the Maven spacecraft was late getting to the Launch site. The entire project would need to be postponed 26 months until the planets realigned! No kidding.

For future posts, I’m trying to obtain an interview with one of the key mission participants which I hope would be a very interesting conversation. Also, I will take deeper look at some of the other Mars missions and what sorts of interesting tidbits have been gleaned from them that relate to the MAVEN mission.

 
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Posted by on October 21, 2013 in MAVEN

 

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Link fixes and MAVEN

16 Sep

First I need to apologize. In my previous post the link to my guest post was broken for a time. I fixed it however, many of you indicated you had some difficulty with it. So for those of you who would like to read my guest post from last week, here is the link.

Fantasy, the purest form of fiction.

Now for some interesting news. I received a call from my brother who works for Lockheed-Martin, an aerospace contractor. He proceeded to tell me that a launch date was set for the project he has been working of for several years. The project is called MAVEN and stands for, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft. According to NASA:

The  MAVEN mission, scheduled for launch in late 2013, will be the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.

The goal of MAVEN is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time. Where did the atmosphere – and the water – go?

MAVEN will determine how much of the Martian atmosphere has been lost over time by measuring the current rate of escape to space and gathering enough information about the relevant processes to allow extrapolation backward in time.

-according to NASA Mission pages website.

Unloading MAVEN spacecraft at KSC (Photo credit NASA photo library)

Unloading MAVEN spacecraft at KSC (Photo credit NASA photo library)

My brother has been the requirements and verification lead relating to the MAVEN space vehicle. His responsibilities included overseeing the definition of the spacecraft and ensuring that all requirements are met. Sounds cool doesn’t it? Hell, I get goosebumps just writing about it. Anyway, after years of work by a large team of individuals, it is finally going to launch.

Since I have a personal interest in this event, it is my intention to post periodic blogs relating to preparation for the launch and hopefully, the launch itself. If you have specific questions relating to the project, I will try to obtain correct answers and provide them during followup posts.

This is just plain cool!

 
8 Comments

Posted by on September 16, 2013 in MAVEN

 

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