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Emily Lakdawalla • Sep 10, 2011

Here we go again: GRAIL set to launch today

GRAIL is trying for launch today at 8:29 PDT / 12:29 UT or 9:08 PDT / 6:08 UT., and here I am at 5:00 am my time ready to watch. As before, I'm watching the feed through Spaceflight Now's GRAIL mission status center. Another good place to watch will likely be JPL's Ustream channel. Here's the new launch timeline. Although the liftoff times are correct, the actual timelines after that may vary by a few seconds, especially after the first firing of the second stage. Every day that the launch is delayed, the two launch windows move earlier in the day by about four minutes.

Launch Time:08:29:4505:29:4512:29:45
EventsecEDTPDTUTC
Liftoff0.008:29:4505:29:4512:29:45
Ground-lit solid rocket motor (SRM) ignition (6 rockets)0.208:29:4505:29:4512:29:45
Mach 129.008:30:1405:30:1412:30:14
Air-lit SRM ignition (6 rockets)79.008:31:0405:31:0412:31:04
Ground-lit SRM jettison80.508:31:0505:31:0612:31:06
Air-lit SRM jettison159.508:32:2505:32:2512:32:25
Main engine cutoff (MECO)263.208:34:0805:34:0812:34:08
First stage separation271.208:34:1605:34:1612:34:16
Second stage ignition276.708:34:2205:34:2212:34:22
Payload fairing jettison281.008:34:2605:34:2612:34:26
Second stage first cutoff (SECO1)429.708:36:5505:36:5512:36:55
Second stage restart4076.709:37:4206:37:4213:37:42
Second stage second cutoff (SECO2)4348.809:42:1406:42:1413:42:14
GRAIL-A separates
Separation should be visible from a RocketCam. After separation, the solar panels will be commanded to deploy.		4918.809:51:4406:51:4413:51:44
GRAIL-B separates5413.809:59:5906:59:5913:59:59
EventsecEDTPDTUTC
Launch Time:09:08:5206:08:5213:08:52
EventsecEDTPDTUTC
Liftoff0.009:08:5206:08:5213:08:52
Ground-lit solid rocket motor (SRM) ignition (6 rockets)0.209:08:5206:08:5213:08:52
Mach 129.009:09:2106:09:2113:09:21
Air-lit SRM ignition (6 rockets)79.009:10:1106:10:1113:10:11
Ground-lit SRM jettison80.509:10:1206:10:1213:10:13
Air-lit SRM jettison159.509:11:3106:11:3113:11:32
Main engine cutoff (MECO)263.209:13:1506:13:1513:13:15
First stage separation271.209:13:2306:13:2313:13:23
Second stage ignition276.709:13:2906:13:2913:13:29
Payload fairing jettison281.009:13:3306:13:3313:13:33
Second stage first cutoff (SECO1)430.409:16:0206:16:0213:16:02
Second stage restart3951.010:14:4307:14:4314:14:43
Second stage second cutoff (SECO2)4222.710:19:1507:19:1514:19:15
GRAIL-A separates
Separation should be visible from a RocketCam. After separation, the solar panels will be commanded to deploy.		4792.710:28:4507:28:4514:28:45
GRAIL-B separates5287.710:37:0007:37:0014:37:00
EventsecEDTPDTUTC

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