The Mariner 9 spacecraft was launched by an Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle (AC-23) on a direct-ascent trajectory from the Air Force Eastern Test Range (AFETR) launch complex 36B on May 30, 1971. Liftoff occurred at 22 h 23 min 04.5 s GMT, slightly more than 6 min after the opening of a 60-min launch window. The vehicle rose vertically for approximately 15 s, during which time, a programmed roll to a launch azimuth of 92.74 deg was performed. After the initial vertical rise, the vehicle, guided by the open-loop Atlas autopilot, began to pitch over into a zero-lift trajectory. The first of three main powered phases was terminated by booster engine cutoff (BECO) at 22 h 25 min 35.5 s. After the Atlas booster engine package was jettisoned 3 s later, the flight continued under the power of the Atlas sustainer engine and guided by the Centaur guidance system operating in a closed-loop mode.
Trajectory description
1973-11-13
Miscellaneous
No indication
English
NTRS | 1979
|Cassini Trajectory Design Description
NTRS | 1993
|Cassini Trajectory Design Description
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1993
|Symbolic Trajectory Description Using Frescoes
British Library Conference Proceedings | 2014
|Formal Intent-Based Trajectory Description Languages
Online Contents | 2014
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