Atlas V 541 | MSL (Curiosity)
Launch Successful
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Instantaneous launch window.
Launch Window
Nov. 26, 2011, 3:02 p.m. - Nov. 26, 2011, 3:02 p.m.
Instantaneous launch window.
Nov. 26, 2011, 3:02 p.m. - Nov. 26, 2011, 3:02 p.m.
The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, featuring the renowned Curiosity rover, was designed to assess the planet's past and present habitability. Equipped with an array of advanced scientific instruments, including a drill and a sample analysis unit, Curiosity explored the Gale Crater, a site believed to contain evidence of ancient Martian environments. It delivered groundbreaking discoveries, including the detection of organic molecules and the confirmation of an ancient, potentially habitable lake bed.
Atlas V with 5m Fairing, 4 SRB, 1 Centaur upper stage engine.
See DetailsUnited Launch Alliance (ULA) is a joint venture of Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security. ULA was formed in December 2006 by combining the teams at these companies which provide spacecraft launch services to the government of the United States. ULA launches from both coasts of the US. They launch their Atlas V vehicle from LC-41 in Cape Canaveral and LC-3E at Vandeberg. Their Delta IV launches from LC-37 at Cape Canaveral and LC-6 at Vandenberg.
INFO WIKI
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Team members working with NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover created this “postcard” by commanding the rover to take images at two times of day on Nov. 18, 2025, spanning periods that occurred on both the 4,722nd and 4,723rd Martian days, or sols…
Written by Lucy Thompson, Planetary Scientist and APXS team member, University of New Brunswick, Canada Earth planning date: Monday, Dec. 22, 2025 As we all prepare for the holiday season here on Earth, we have been planning a few last act…
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Two icons of discovery, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and NASA’s Curiosity rover, have earned places in TIME’s “Best Inventions Hall of Fame,” which recognizes the 25 groundbreaking inventions of the past quarter century that have had …
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