MSL Blog Updates http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html en-us <![CDATA[Launch Coverage Ends with Curiosity Heading to Mars]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:53:46 GMT <![CDATA[Curiosity Flying on its Own!]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:46:18 GMT <![CDATA[MECO-2]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:42:33 GMT <![CDATA[Centaur Engine Re-ignites]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:34:46 GMT <![CDATA[Barbecue Roll Ends]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:31:59 GMT <![CDATA[Curiosity in Thermal Roll]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:16:25 GMT <![CDATA[First Centaur Stage Shutdown]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:13:35 GMT <![CDATA[Centaur Engine Firing]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:07:09 GMT <![CDATA[First Stage Finishes, Falls Away]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:06:32 GMT <![CDATA[Payload Fairing Separates]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:05:30 GMT <![CDATA[Booster Jettison]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:03:56 GMT <![CDATA[LIFTOFF!]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 15:02:06 GMT <![CDATA[Atlas V/Centaur Stages on Internal]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 03:00:04 GMT <![CDATA[T-4 Minutes and Counting]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:58:41 GMT <![CDATA[Baez" "We're Proud to Start You on Your Way"]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:58:05 GMT <![CDATA[Curiosity Under its Own Power]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:52:27 GMT <![CDATA[NASA "Go" for MSL Launch]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:50:32 GMT <![CDATA[Forecast Calls for Scattered Clouds]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:48:22 GMT <![CDATA[30 Minutes to Launch]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:34:02 GMT <![CDATA[Rover with a Jetpack]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:29:29 GMT <![CDATA[Two Years Equals One]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:22:49 GMT <![CDATA[Will.i.am Taking Part in STEM Education]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:19:47 GMT <![CDATA[A Geologic Time Capsule of the Solar System]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:14:20 GMT <![CDATA[Less than an Hour to Go]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:07:44 GMT <![CDATA[Will.i.am Attending Today's Launch]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:01:56 GMT <![CDATA[Centaur Fuel Loading]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:59:08 GMT <![CDATA[Curiosity's Target: Gale Crater]]>
"It's not the same as Valles Marineris, but it's about as close as you can get," MSL Project Scientist John Grotzinger said.]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:48:38 GMT <![CDATA[What's an MMRTG?]]>
How safe is the MMRTG? They've been tested repeatedly in all sorts of emergency scenarios and they haven't failed. They've even gone through re-entry into Earth's atmosphere and didn't leak or spill any of their contents. Even so, NASA has taken extra precautions ahead of today's launch, including working with other federal agencies. Lastly, the plutonium is not the kind that can explode and it is in a ceramic form. Technicians working with the MMRTG during spacecraft processing and at the launch pad did not even have to wear any special clothing aside from the blue coveralls called "bunny suits" worn to keep from contaminating the spacecraft.]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:41:51 GMT <![CDATA[A Ton of Research]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:35:03 GMT <![CDATA[Busy Year for NASA's Launch Services Program]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:30:52 GMT <![CDATA[Atlas V Liquid Oxygen Loading; Weather Green]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:28:01 GMT <![CDATA[About Mars]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:14:50 GMT <![CDATA[Weather Conditions No-go]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:09:41 GMT <![CDATA[Tanking the Powerful Upper Stage]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 13:07:31 GMT <![CDATA[Powerhouse Rocket for Interplanetary Launches]]>
The trip will cover 354 million miles by the time Curiosity reaches the surface. Not to mention that the rocket has to move the MSL at some 22,000 miles an hour so it can escape Earth's gravity.

An Atlas V dispatched the Juno spacecraft to Jupiter during this past summer.]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:56:07 GMT <![CDATA[Centaur Lines Cooling Down]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:54:51 GMT <![CDATA["Go" for Cryogenic Loading]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:47:13 GMT <![CDATA[Atlas V Cryogenic Tanking Coming Up]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:38:20 GMT <![CDATA[Good Morning from Cape Canaveral!]]>
The MSL is bolted onto the nose of an Atlas V rocket built by United Launch Alliance and the joint launch team of NASA and ULA personnel is proceeding with the countdown. We will be here all morning bringing the details of the pre-launch work and to follow MSL's ascent into space. We will also fill you in on the goals of the 1,982-pound rover once it touches down on the Martian surface.]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:29:57 GMT <![CDATA[MSL Launch Blog to Begin in One Hour]]> Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:34:10 GMT <![CDATA[Launch coverage begins at 7:30 Saturday]]> Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:13:42 GMT <![CDATA[MSL Launch Coverage on Nov. 26]]> Fri, 18 Nov 2011 14:36:45 GMT