[meteorite-list] MAVEN Successfully Performs First Trajectory Correction Maneuver

[Ron Baalke]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/maven/main/index.html 

MAVEN Status Update: Dec. 3, 2013

MAVEN mission controllers performed a successful trajectory correction 
maneuver, also known as a TCM. Post-maneuver data review shows that TCM-1 
went according to plan. This maneuver removed the planetary protection 
bias. The planetary protection bias involves initially "aiming" to miss 
Mars, so that the launch vehicle upper stage (which is on a trajectory 
very similar to MAVEN's) doesn't accidentally hit the planet. The maneuver 
also enabled the team to check out the performance of the Mars Orbit Insertion 
thrusters and TCM thrusters. TCM-2 is scheduled for Feb. 26, 2014.

MAVEN is at a distance of 2.9 million miles from Earth. The current velocity 
is 74,025 mph as it moves around the sun. MAVEN has already traveled nearly 
26 million miles on its journey to Mars.

MAVEN's principal investigator is based University of Colorado Boulder's 
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder, Colo. The university 
provided science instruments and leads science operations, as well as 
education and public outreach, for the mission. NASA's Goddard Space Flight 
Center, Greenbelt, Md., manages the project and provided two of the science 
instruments for the mission. Lockheed Martin built the spacecraft and 
is responsible for mission operations. The University of California at 
Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory provided science instruments for 
the mission. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., provides 
navigation support, Deep Space Network support, and Electra telecommunications 
relay hardware and operations.