The Mars Global Surveyor(MGS) spacecraft was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral by a Delta II 7925 rocket on 11/7/96,17:00:50 UTC.Injection into the trans-Mars trajectory went smoothly with the achieved or reconstructed injection targeting within 1.3 sigma of the planned targeting.As of 6/1/97,we are 205 days into the mission.Two trajectory correction maneuvers(TCM-1 and TCM-2 ) were successfully completed on 11/21/96 and 3/20/97.TCM-3, which was to have occurred on 4/22/97,was cancelled because of the accuracy of previous targeting.The final TCM shall occur on 8/25/97 in order to adjust arrival conditions for the Mars Orbit Insertion(MOI) maneuver which shall occur on 9/12/97.The planned capture orbit is highly elliptical with a 45 hour orbital period,a 300 km periapsis altitude and a descending node at 5:43 pm local mean solar time.
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