MAVEN Launch Thread: Launch Currently Scheduled for November 18th @ 1:28 PM

[Meithan]

Spacecraft separated! Applauses in the control room!

Maven is cruising on its own towards Mars. Congratulations to the team!

[KvickFlygarn87]

Yay, separation after a near-nominal flight! Good job, NASA!

[Martijn404]

Seems that after the spacecraft separation they're still focussing on the TMI stage instead of, well, the part with all the SCIENCE! on it?

or am i mistaken

[XIRA]

beautiful launch! good job nasa!

[nhnifong]

Seems that after the spacecraft separation they're still focussing on the TMI stage instead of, well, the part with all the SCIENCE! on it?

or am i mistaken

ULA was in charge of that stream, they are focusing on their own vehicle.

[Meithan]

We're just waiting for MAVEN to phone home now. After that, we can sit back and relax.

[nhnifong]

Is there such a page? That would be very handy.

It seems that you can already see MAVEN in Eyes On The Solar System. 0_o I wonder how long it's been there.

EDIT. the trajectory began at the precise moment MAVEN seperated from centaur. Good Job NASA! Staying on top of your software!

Edited November 18, 2013 by nhnifong

[nhnifong]

For the impatient...

[B787_300]

Aren't the tanks pressurized to push the fuel, so gravity isn't needed?

Doesnt quite work that way in Zero G, the fluid/ air boundary gets ill defined and it starts doing weird things so you really need the motors, most of the time they fire right before MEI, then they are called Ullage motors

[Superluminaut]

I can't find tracking data.

[Meithan]

Doesnt quite work that way in Zero G, the fluid/ air boundary gets ill defined and it starts doing weird things so you really need the motors, most of the time they fire right before MEI, then they are called Ullage motors

Ah, nice, I wasn't quite aware of that.