MSL successfully adjusts course
Posted: Thu, Jan 12, 2012, 2:20 PM ET (1920 GMT)
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft fired its thrusters late Wednesday to put the spacecraft on course for a Red Planet landing in August. The spacecraft fired its eight thrusters in a carefully choreographed sequence over the course of three hours starting at 6 pm EST (2300 GMT) Wednesday, changing its trajectory to bring it 40,000 kilometers closer to encountering Mars. The spacecraft, launched in November, was originally and deliberately put into a trajectory that would miss Mars so that its upper stage would not hit the planet. MSL, carrying the Curiosity rover, will land on Mars early on August 6.
NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) spacecraft fired its thrusters late Wednesday to put the spacecraft on course for a Red Planet landing in August. The spacecraft fired its eight thrusters in a carefully choreographed sequence over the course of three hours starting at 6 pm EST (2300 GMT) Wednesday, changing its trajectory to bring it 40,000 kilometers closer to encountering Mars. The spacecraft, launched in November, was originally and deliberately put into a trajectory that would miss Mars so that its upper stage would not hit the planet. MSL, carrying the Curiosity rover, will land on Mars early on August 6.
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