On Wednesday, a planned firing of the Curiosity spacecraft will readjust the capsule so it will point toward Mars.
The firing will include eight thrusters being fired periodically during close to a 3 hour period that will change the spacecraft’s trajectory so it will be in line with Mars. The radical burn is on purpose and was designed so that the upper stage that helped put Curiosity into space will not follow the spacecraft on to the planet. There was some concern that the upper stage rocket might crash land somewhere on the planet’s surface and possibly contaminate the Martian environment with microbes from Earth. Curiosity was meticulously scrubbed and kept in a sanitary environment during its construction and launch, but the actual rocket sections not so much. After this correction, the spacecraft will be be on a trajectory that will put it right on target for the August 5 landing, but there are still several more options for fine-tuning the course over next few months.
The thrusters will begin the 175 minute window of firings at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.
NASA ARTIST: Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft during its cruise phase between launch and final approach to Mars. The spacecraft includes a disc-shaped cruise stage (on the left) attached to the aeroshell. The spacecraft's rover (Curiosity) and descent stage are tucked inside the aeroshell.
