{"id":39161,"date":"2011-09-11T15:44:21","date_gmt":"2011-09-11T15:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/grail-launch-milestones\/"},"modified":"2011-09-11T15:44:21","modified_gmt":"2011-09-11T15:44:21","slug":"grail-launch-milestones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/space-station\/grail-launch-milestones.php","title":{"rendered":"GRAIL Launch Milestones"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NASA's GRAIL spacecraft are set to launch to the moon aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket on Sept. 8, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. There are two instantaneous (one-second) launch windows at 5:37:06 a.m. and 6:16:12 a.m. PDT (8:37:06 a.m. and 9:16:12 a.m. EDT). The launch period extends through Oct. 19. The launch times occur approximately four minutes earlier each day.<\/div>
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GRAIL's primary science objectives are to determine the structure of the lunar interior, from crust to core, and to advance understanding of the thermal evolution of the moon.<\/div>
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The lunar orbiters are nestled inside the top of a United Launch Alliance Delta II 7920H-10C rocket, the most powerful Delta rocket in NASA's inventory.<\/div>
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On launch day, Sept. 8, NASA TV commentary coverage of the countdown will begin at 3 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. EDT). The coverage will be webcast at http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/ntv<\/a> .<\/div>
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Live countdown coverage on NASA's launch blog also begins at 3 a.m. PDT (6 a.m. EDT) at http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/grail\/launch\/grail_blog.html<\/a> . Coverage features real-time updates of countdown milestones, as well as streaming video clips highlighting launch preparations and liftoff. To access these features, and for more information on GRAIL, visit http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/grail<\/a> and http:\/\/grail.nasa.gov<\/a> .<\/div>
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The launch will also be online, with a live chat available, on Ustream TV, at http:\/\/www.ustream.tv\/nasajpl2<\/a> . To follow the GRAIL launch on Twitter, visit http:\/\/twitter.com\/NASAJPL<\/a> and http:\/\/twitter.com\/NASA<\/a> .<\/div>
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Here is a timeline of expected launch milestones:<\/div>
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Launch<\/div>
At liftoff, the rocket's first-stage engine and six of its nine strap-on solid rocket motors will ignite, and the rocket will be airborne, carrying GRAIL up and over the Atlantic Ocean.<\/div>
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First six solid rocket motors are jettisoned<\/div>
GRAIL's Delta II is carrying nine strap-on graphite-epoxy motors. The first six will be ignited at the time of liftoff. The remaining three will be ignited shortly after the first six strap-on motors burn out.<\/div>
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Fairing separates<\/div>
After the Delta's first stage completes its tour of duty, its second stage, which will provide 9,645 pounds of kick for GRAIL, will begin the first of two scheduled burns.<\/div>
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Shortly after ignition of the rocket's second stage, the Delta's 30-foot-long (8.88-meter-long) nose cone, or fairing, will separate and be jettisoned as planned, providing the GRAIL twins with their first taste of exo-atmospheric existence.<\/div>
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Parking at 17,500 miles per hour<\/div>
The Delta's second stage will temporarily stop firing, as planned, and the rocket and GRAIL will begin a planned coast phase, also known as a \"parking orbit\" at about 90 miles (nearly 167 kilometers up).<\/div>
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GRAIL heading from Earth to the moon<\/div>
The Delta's second stage will begin a second burn. This approximately four-and-a-half-minute-long burn will place GRAIL on its desired trajectory to the moon.<\/div>
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Spacecraft begin to separate from second stage<\/div>
The GRAIL-A spacecraft begins its separation process from the Delta's second stage. The GRAIL-B spacecraft separates about 8 minutes later. At this point, the moon is three-and-a-half months away.<\/div>

For more information visit http:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/mission_pages\/grail\/news\/grail20110907.html<\/a><\/p><\/div>

\"\"<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NASA's GRAIL spacecraft are set to launch to the moon aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta II rocket on Sept. 8, 2011, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. There are two instantaneous (one-second) launch windows at 5:37:06 a.m. and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"limit_modified_date":"","last_modified_date":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-space-station"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39161"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39161\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.euvolution.com\/futurist-transhuman-news-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}