UntitledJune 6, 2003
The first trajectory correction manoeuvre has been successfully completed and communications with Mission Control have been switched successfully from the low-gain antenna to the high-gain antenna.
At 07:30 CEST (5:30 UT) this morning, Mars Express was 1 million km from Earth (geocentric distance, which is from the centre of the Earth).
June 2, 2003
Launch summary
The launch of ESA's Mars Express spacecraft onboard a Russian Soyuz/Fregat launcher from the Baikonur cosmodrome took place at 19:45 Central European Summer Time (CEST). Separation of the spacecraft from the Fregat upper stage took place 1 hour 32 minutes after liftoff at 21:17 CEST. First signals of the satellite received: 21:45 via New Norcia ground station in Western Australia. By 21:58 both solar arrays had successfully been deployed. The spacecraft is on its way to Mars and telemetry confirms a nominal satellite performance in all subsystems.
21:58 CEST. Both solar arrays deployed.
21:45 CEST. First signals received via New Norcia ground station.
21:17 CEST. Separation successfully completed
19:45 CEST. Lift off of Soyuz and Mars Express.
19:40 CEST. Operations Director reports go for launch.
18:00 CEST. NNO tracking tests have started
16:15 CEST. The go-ahead has been given for launcher filling, and fuelling has commenced.
Full Science Mission Preview | Complete Mars Rover Coverage
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