Astromic's Backyard: Curiosity Mission in Pictures, Part 3: Launch Prepare & Take Off

On April 2004, the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) called for scientific experiments and instruments proposals for a planned Mars Science Laboratory rover mission. Launch was proposed for September 2009. Eight proposals were selected, including instruments from Russia and Spain. Testing of components also began in late 2004, including Aerojet's monopropellant engine with the ability to throttle from 15–100 percent thrust with a fixed propellant inlet pressure.

By November 2008 most hardware and software development was complete, and testing continued. At this point, cost overruns were approximately $400 million. On Decemer 2008, lift-off delayed to November 2011 due to insufficient time for testing and integration. Between March 23–29, 2009, the general public ranked nine finalist rover names (Adventure, Amelia, Journey, Perception, Pursuit, Sunrise, Vision, Wonder, and Curiosity) through a public poll on the NASA website. On May 27, 2009, the winning name was announced to be Curiosity. The name had been submitted in an essay contest by Clara Ma, a then sixth-grader from Kansas.

(Left) In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, preparations are under way to enclose NASA's Mars Science Laboratory in an Atlas V rocket payload fairing. The blocks on the interior of the fairing are components of the fairing acoustic protection (FAP) system, designed to protect the payload by dampening the sound created by the rocket during liftoff. The two halves of the fairing will come together, protecting the spacecraft from the impact of aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent. (NASA/Jim Grossmann).

(Left) The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission logo begins to take shape as technicians install it on the exterior of an Atlas V rocket's payload fairing inside the Payload Hazardous Processing Facility in Florida, on October 29, 2011. (NASA/Jim Grossmann).

(Right) On October 10, 2011, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the fairing acoustic protection (FAP) system lines the inside of the Atlas V payload fairing (the outer shell that will sit atop the rocket), for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission. This half of the fairing has been uncovered and laid on its side during preparations to clean it to meet NASA's planetary protection requirements. The FAP protects the payload by dampening the sound created by the rocket during liftoff. The fairing will protect the spacecraft from the impact of aerodynamic pressure and heating during ascent. Although jettisoned once the spacecraft is outside the Earth's atmosphere, the fairing must be cleaned to the same exacting standards as the laboratory to avoid the possibility of contaminating it. (NASA/Kim Shiflett).

(Up) The payload shell is moving for attachment with the launch rocker "Atlas V".

(Up) Standing atop a payload transporter on November 3, 2011, the Atlas V payload fairing containing NASA's Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft rolls down a darkened roadway during the early morning move from Kennedy Space Center's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility to Space Launch Complex 41.

(NASA/Kim Shiflett).

(Up) The Mars Science Laboratory, and accompanying Atlas V rocket, is hoisted into place at Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. (Kim Shiflett / NASA)

(Up) A sequence of photos, showing the encapsulated spacecraft being lifted onto the rocket, you can see a dangling white hose attached toward the top of the fairing. That will also carry conditioned air, which will cool the spacecraft and also maintain positive air pressure inside the fairing, preventing microbes and contamination from Florida's moist air from reaching the spacecraft. NASA / Kim Shiflett. Credit: Emily Lakdawalla - The Planetary Society Blog.

(Left) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A crane is attached to the first stage of the Atlas V rocket for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission upon its arrival at the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A United Launch Alliance Atlas V, in the 541 configuration with four solid rocket boosters attached. Image Credit: NASA/Cory Huston. Source

(Left) CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - At the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, technicians use a lifting device to elevate a solid rocket motor (SRM) into an upright position for mating to a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket which carried NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission Curiosity into space. Image Credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis. Source

(Right) Inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, technicians using an overhead crane guide the final solid rocket motor into position for mating to the first stage of a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

The Atlas V is the selected rocket carried NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission into space. (NASA/Jim Grossmann).

(Right) The "Launch Vehicle" provides the velocity needed by a spacecraft to escape Earth's gravity and set it on its course for Mars. When mission planners are considering different launch vehicles, what they take into consideration is how much mass each launch vehicle can lift into space. A two-stage Atlas V-541 launch vehicle chosen to lift the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The vehicle was provided by United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp.The Atlas V-541 vehicle was selected for the Mars Science Laboratory mission because it has the right liftoff capability for the heavy weight requirements and rockets in the same family have successfully lifted NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and New Horizons missions.

Atlas V rockets are expendable launch vehicles (ELVs), which means they are only used once. The three numbers in the 541 designation signify a payload fairing, or nose cone, that is approximately 5 meters (16.4 feet) in diameter; four solid-rocket boosters fastened alongside the central common core booster; and a one-engine Centaur upper stage. The total length of the launch rocket was 191 feet (58 meters), the mass, fully fueled, with spacecraft on top was 1.17 million pounds (531,000 kilograms). Credit: NASA JPL.

(Left) The Atlas V rocket is illuminated inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Space Launch Complex 41, where employees have gathered to hoist one of the final pieces to be integrated - the spacecraft's multi-mission radioisotope thermoelectric generator (MMRTG). The generator was lifted up to the top of the rocket and installed on the MSL spacecraft, encapsulated within the payload fairing. The MMRTG will generate the power needed for the mission from the natural decay of plutonium-238, a non-weapons-grade form of the radioisotope. (NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis).

(Up) The rocket transported to it's liftoff position, placed right in the middle of four lightning protector towers to absorb any unexpected strike, which might cause huge loses to the vehicle and the payload.

Credit Image: Scriptunas Images.

(Up) The rocket on it's launch pad, with loads of flags and decals - NASA logo, MSL mission logo, USA flag, Atlas logo, United Launch Alliance logo, and rocket's model (AV-028).

Credit Image: Scriptunas Images.

(Up) Musician and NASA supporter WII.I.AM. from the Black Eyed Peas was in attendance at the launch site.Credit Image: Scriptunas Images.

(Right) Just seconds before liftoff, the rocket awaits the countdown sequence.

(Right) A photo from Chase Clark from the initial 1.6 seconds of the Atlas V rocket launch. Notice the ice on the rocket which is formed on the uninsulated LOX (liquid oxygen) tanks. The fuel inside the LH2 (liquid hydrogen) tank is held at -420 F and requires insulation because the heat transfer rate is very high (large delta T across the tank wall to ambient temperature). Information needs confirmation. Credit Image: Stay-curious.com

(Up) - (Wallpaper HD HQ). And at last - the liftoff, from here the space craft holding the rover inside it's guts started the long journey toward Mars, passing through various stages of flight we will describe in picture below.

(Right) NASA's Curiosity Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover blasts off on Nov. 26, 2011. NASA's 1 ton Curiosity Mars rover soars skyward lift bound for Mars atop the United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 10:02 a.m. EST on Nov. 26.Credit: Alan Walters/awaltersphoto.com

(Right) A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover lifts off from Launch Complex 41at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on November 26, 2011. (AP Photo/Terry Renna).

(Right) Curiosity Mars rover launch lifting it's rig. Credit: Mike Deep/David Gonzales

(Right) A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasts off from Space Launch Complex-41 at 10:02 p.m. EST with NASA’s Mars Science Lab rover Curiosity. Credit: Pat Corkery/ULA

(Left) At NASA Kennedy Space Center's Press Site in Florida, participants in NASA's Tweetup photograph the launch of the agency's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) as it races through the clouds. The 197-foot-tall United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket lifted off Space Launch Complex-41 on neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 10:02 a.m. EST at the opening of the launch window. (NASA/Frankie Martin)

(Left) CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATAION, Fla. - Atlas V evolved expendable launch vehicle carries NASA's rover from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 26 Author U.S. Air Force photo/George Roberts.

(Right) The author of this picture "exposed" for the flame, which provided for a different look showing the details of the flame and the glint off of the rocket. Credit Image: ScriptunasImages