[meteorite-list] NASA Announces Mars Orbiter Launch Delay

[Ron Baalke]

August 9, 2005

Dolores Beasley 
Headquarters, Washington 
(Phone: 202/358-1753) 

George H. Diller 
Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 
(Phone: 321/867-2468) 

MEDIA ADVISORY: M05-132

NASA ANNOUNCES MARS ORBITER LAUNCH DELAY

The launch of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been 
postponed 24 hours. The new launch window is Thursday, August 11 from 
7:50 to 9:35 a.m. EDT.

The launch was postponed due to a failure of a Redundant Rate Gyro 
Unit (RRGU) at the manufacturer. This unit is similar to two RRGU's 
that are part of the flight control system on the Atlas V launch 
vehicle at Launch Complex 41 at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. 

The mission engineering team is evaluating whether the failure that 
occurred in the testing at the manufacturer has any affect on other 
RRGU's in the MRO's Atlas V.

For interested media, establishing remote cameras at Complex 41 will 
occur on Wednesday; leaving the KSC Press Site at 2 p.m. The imagery 
opportunity for the Atlas V rollout from the Vertical Integration 
Facility to the launch departs from the KSC Press Site at 10:15 p.m. 
EDT, tomorrow.

On launch day, Aug. 11, the KSC News Center will open at 4:30 a.m. 
EDT. Foreign national news media should meet at Gate 1 at Cape 
Canaveral Air Force Station at 5 a.m. to be escorted to the KSC Press 
Site. NASA TV live coverage of the launch begins at 5:30 a.m.

For information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on the Web, 
visit 

http://www.nasa.gov/mro

	
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