The countdown is on schedule to day to resume at 11:18 a.m. EST after launch teams confirmed they are ready to begin filling the Atlas V booster and Centaur upper stage with cryogenic – super-cold – propellants.
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NASA Launch Team Ready for Cryo Loading
Omar Baez, the NASA Launch Manager, received a “go” from his launch team to load the cryogenic propellants. The United Launch Alliance will next poll the Atlas V team. Everything remains on schedule to launch at 1:28 p.m. EST.
MAVEN, Atlas V Countdown Coverage Starts Now!
Good morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida where the weather is warm, the sky is blue with some thin cloud streaks and MAVEN stands atop an Atlas V rocket poised to head to Mars! The launch teams here report everything is on track for a liftoff at 1:28 p.m. EST. If some matter comes up, they have until 3:28 p.m. to make today’s launch window before they’d have to stand down and try again tomorrow. At the moment, though, no one is thinking about a delay. Instead they are focused on preparing the rocket for fuel and propellant loading and keeping tabs on the spacecraft’s health.
Meteorologists will watch those clouds closely to see if they form into something more meaningful than wispy streaks. The forecast remains 60 percent chance of acceptable conditions at launch time.
We’ll bring you all the countdown milestones as they occur during the next 2 1/2 hours and introduce you to MAVEN, an 11.4-foot-tall, 90-inch-wide spacecraft loaded with the instruments scientists hope will tell them what became of Mars’ ancient atmosphere, including the fate of its liquid water.
So stick with us this morning and we’ll keep you up-to-date with all the happenings out at Space Launch Complex-41 as MAVEN goes through its last steps before space.
Planned Countdown Hold Begins
At T-2 hours, the countdown clocks have paused for 30 minutes. Everything remains on schedule for launch at 1:28 p.m. EST. The countdown will resume at 11:18 EST and the launch team will begin the steps to load cryogenic propellants into the Atlas V first stage and Centaur upper stage.
The Launch Pad This Morning
Here’s a look at the Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida this morning where the Atlas V with MAVEN aboard is going through launch preparations. Our continuous coverage here on the NASA Launch Blog and NASA TV’s coverage of the countdown will begin at 11 a.m.
Saturday’s Rollout (Video)
Take a look at the rollout of the Atlas V rocket carrying MAVEN from the Vertical Integration Facility to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.
Countdown Under Way For MAVEN
MAVEN’s launch team began today’s countdown on schedule at 6:28 a.m. Managers from NASA and United Launch Alliance are overseeing today’s preparations and launch of the MAVEN spacecraft to Mars atop an Atlas V-401 and Centaur upper stage. Liftoff remains on schedule for 1:28 p.m. EST, the start of a 2-hour launch window.
Our continuous countdown coverage here on the NASA Launch Blog begins at 11 a.m. EST. NASA TV’s coverage begins at the same time at www.nasa.gov/ntv
Forecasters from the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron predict a 60 percent chance for favorable weather during a two-hour launch window. The primary concerns are for cumulus clouds, disturbed weather and thick clouds in the vicinity of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 41.
MAVEN’s Weekend Plans
The Atlas V rocket with MAVEN aboard will be rolled from the Vertical Integration Facility or VIF, pictured with the Atlas V inside, to the launch pad at Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Saturday morning. Technicians will connect a battery of umbilicals and make the other connections necessary to set up the Atlas V for Monday’s launch. Sunday will be a rest day for the launch team, said Omar Baez, NASA’s launch director. The launch team will take to their consoles Monday morning to begin the final phase of the countdown ahead of the 1:28 p.m. EST liftoff.
Months of Processing in Minutes
From installing the solar arrays and instruments to covering the high-gain antenna and packaging the spacecraft inside its payload fairing – not to mention all the intensive testing involved – see in about two minutes what took MAVEN engineers months of careful, precise work to accomplish before the spacecraft is sent into space.