14 DAY TRIAL // The next rover to trek on the surface of the Red Planet has made its way to Florida, ready to undergo final preparations for its launch later this year. The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and the rover Curiosity arrived at the NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on June 22.
Both were delivered from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), in California, where they were put together. The cross-country trek finally reunited the MSL with its other components, which have already been delivered at the KSC weeks ago.
At this point, the American space agency has tentatively set a launch date for the interval between November 25 and December 18, when the next window of opportunity arises. Such windows for Martian launches occur once every two years or so.
The Air Force C-17 transport plane that carried the MSL to Florida took off from the March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, California, after experts at the JPL delivered the rover and its related components via truck from Pasadena.
In addition to the rover, the plane also delivered a rocket-powered descent stage, the most important part of the Sky Crane landing system this mission will use. NASA decided to move away from the cushioned landing that Spirit and Opportunity had with this new mission.
Rather than making impact in a protective cushion of air bags, Curiosity will be deployed on the surface of Mars by a Sky Crane system, which can hover above the surface, while lowering the 1-ton rover via a thick wire.
After the deployment is complete, the wire is severed, and the rocket-powered platform flies away, crashing a long distance from the robot. This is the first time this innovative system is used, Space reports.
Already awaiting for the MSL at the KSC are the aeroshell and cruise stage that experts at Lockheed Martin Space Systems delivered there last month. All these components need to be integrated, and then pass a series of scrupulous tests, before the launch windows open.
“The design and building part of the mission is nearly behind us now. We're getting to final checkouts before sending the rover on its way to Mars,” says JPL expert David Gruel, who is the manager of the MSL assembly, test and launch operations team.
After integration and testing, the components will be attached to the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V delivery system. The rocket will take off from the Space Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), in Florida.