Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch Postponed
Tomorrow morning's launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been postponed by at least one day. At present, liftoff is scheduled for no earlier than 7:50 a.m. on August 11.
The launch was postponed due to a failure of a Redundant Rate Gyro Unit (RRGU) at the manufacturer. This unit is similar to two RRGUs that are part of the flight control system on the Altas V launch vehicle at Launch Complex 41 at Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
The engineering team is evaluating whether the failure that occurred in the testing at the manufacturer has any effect on other RRGUs in the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Atlas V.
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