Opportunity has left the planet

Mars rover finally bound for Meridiani Planum

By David Brand and Blaine P. Friedlander Jr.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Following a final round of last-minute engineering drama and heroics, Opportunity, the second of the twin Mars exploration rovers carrying a suite of scientific instruments developed at Cornell, lifted off into the heavens Monday, July 7, at 11:18 p.m. from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Opportunity's next stop: Meridiani Planum, near the Martian equator.

NASA

During the night's first launch opportunity at 10:35 p.m., the lift-off countdown halted with seven seconds to ignition. NASA launch engineers had discovered a malfunctioning liquid oxygen valve on the rocket's second stage. The launch engineers had 43 minutes -- until 11:18 p.m. -- to find the problem and fix it for the second and last launch window of the evening.

Minutes before the second launch window was to close, the NASA engineers reported the valve worked well during two quick tests and the Delta was ready for launch.

"We had a little excitement on our first launch attempt," said Steven Squyres, Cornell professor of astronomy and the principal investigator for the Athena suite of scientific instruments aboard the rovers, in his online personal journal at www.athena.cornell.edu. "The launch team did a fantastic job recycling the vehicle for a second launch attempt about 40 minutes later. Our rocket -- the first Delta II Heavy -- gave us a perfect ride. Opportunity is in good shape and on her way to Meridiani Planum."

The launch aboard the Delta II Heavy rocket, with its nine huge solid-fuel boosters, succeeded after days of delays. One launch attempt had been canceled only minutes before liftoff in the early hours of Sunday morning, June 29, after multiple delays, caused by an errant boat in the area and weather conditions. NASA's reason for that cancellation was wind shear.

Some of the earlier delays were caused by the replacement of cork insulation on one of the Delta rocket's stages. Engineers discovered that sections of protective cork insulation on the first stage, below the forward attach points of the strap-on solid rocket boosters, were deteriorating and had to be replaced. After the cancellation of the June 29 launch, engineers found that a section of the same panels had debonded from the surface and needed to be replaced yet again. That delayed the launch until July 5.

The June 29 cancellation came as hundreds of Cornell alumni, their families and friends watched with heightened anticipation from Jetty Park, two miles from launch pad 17B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The evening was to have ended with a rousing Big Red cheer. Instead it ended with a disappointed, largely silent, trudge to the parking lot.

Squyres led the team that developed the science packages aboard the rovers Opportunity and Spirit, the other rover that was launched June 10. The two rovers, outfitted as mobile, robotic laboratories, are scheduled to bounce down on two widely separated sites on the Martian surface next January. They will spend about four months examining rocks and soils that could reveal a history of past water activity on Mars.

As Saturday, June 28, progressed, with wet, stormy weather over the area, meteorologist Joel Tumbiolo, launch weather officer at the Air Force station, remained confident that there was only a 40 percent chance that the launch would be canceled. As the launch time of 11:56:16 p.m. approached, though, the wind picked up and began blowing in the direction of Jetty Park. If the rocket blew up, hydrazine fuel would be sprayed into the air over the crowd. "We can't risk a toxic cloud drifting over a populated area," said Squyres.

Then the Coast Guard noticed a shing boat in the launch area, within the danger zone where the rocket boosters would be jettisoned. NASA decided to delay liftoff for 41 minutes, until the second launch window at 12:37:59 a.m.

With about five minutes to go, Squyres suddenly grinned. It was "go" for launch. Almost as he clicked off the phone and spectators and photographers rushed to their viewing points, the phone rang again. The launch was canceled due to wind shear conditions.

A resigned Squyres said, "It looked very good that we were going to make it on the second attempt, but at the very last minute they discovered there was a wind shear at high altitude which made it impossible to launch the vehicle."

Squyres had noted at a press conference at Kennedy Space Center on June 27 that once Opportunity is in flight, the most dangerous part of "the adventure" still lies ahead. But when the two rovers bounce down on the surface of Mars next January, they will "give us two chances to land successfully and a chance to double up on the science on Mars," Squyres said.