There will be a prelaunch press conference for MAVEN at 1 p.m. EST today on NASA TV. Participants are Geoffrey Yoder, NASA deputy associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate; Omar Baez, NASA launch director; Vernon Thorp, United Launch Alliance’s program manager for NASA missions; David Mitchell, NASA’s MAVEN project manager; Guy Beutelschies, Lockheed Martin’s MAVEN project manager; and Clay Flinn, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
MAVEN cleared its last mission review today as NASA and contractor managers gave a “go” today at the Launch Readiness Review to proceed to launch Monday at 1:28 p.m. EST, the beginning of a 2-hour launch window for the Mars-bound spacecraft. The weather forecast for Monday remains at a 60 percent change of acceptable conditions at launch time.
Controllers turned on the MAVEN spacecraft today as the spacecraft and the Atlas V rocket that will send it to Mars continue on track for launch Monday at 1:28 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The NASA and United Launch Alliance launch teams performed a successful countdown dress rehearsal today as well. The final mission review for MAVEN, called the Launch Readiness Review, will take place Friday in the Mission Briefing Room at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. There are no significant issues or concerns going into the session.
Former Star Trek actor LeVar Burton shares MAVEN’s story. Burton has been a lifelong advocate of education through his many STEM initiatives and participation in educational programming. He is also known worldwide as Geordi LeForge, chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” as Kunta Kinte in the breakthrough mini-series “Roots” and beloved by generations of children as the host and producer of the “Reading Rainbow” television series.
Interviews with MAVEN’s scientific and launch teams detail the goals for the Mars-bound spacecraft and the years of work that went into building the spacecraft and then getting ready to launch it.
MAVEN’s launch day forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions at the opening of the launch window Monday at 1:28 p.m. EST. Concerns are centered on a cold front that is expected to near Florida on Monday and possibly disrupt the weather around Cape Canaveral with thick clouds and possible showers. In case the launch has to be postponed a day, the same weather concerns remain for Tuesday, too.
This is a concept video by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland of how the Martian atmosphere and landscape may have changed in the past 4 billion years. MAVEN’s mission is to find out whether the theories of change are correct. MAVEN will orbit Mars with a suite of instruments that will scan the upper atmosphere for proof of the existence of a much richer ancient atmosphere above the Red Planet. You can also find out more details about what informed the concept art and production here.
Curiosity will be working on the Martian surface as MAVEN orbits overhead taking its own readings. Together with previous exploration missions on and above Mars, the data is drawing a more complete picture of the Red Planet.
We’re one small but important step closer to Mars this morning after the launch team placed MAVEN on the top of the Atlas V rocket that will send the probe to the Red Planet. While most of the Cape Canaveral region was sleeping, a crew drove the MAVEN spacecraft from its processing hangar at Kennedy to the launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The trip began at 12:33 a.m. and ended at 2:59 a.m. The spacecraft is bolted inside the payload fairing that will protect it at the pad and during the first few minutes of ascent into space. The Atlas V was already stacked and waiting inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex-41 when MAVEN arrived. A crane built into the VIF hoisted MAVEN to the top of the rocket and workers began securing the link. Many more tests await the MAVEN spacecraft as engineers and technicians make sure the spacecraft and rocket are working together. Launch remains on track for Nov. 18 at 1:28 p.m. EST.
