Launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

11:43:00 AM GMT August 12, 2005 on

the first Atlas V rocket used by NASA.

The rocket is in the 401 configuration

The Atlas V rocket

IS an expendable launch vehicle formerly built by Lockheed Martin and now built by the Lockheed Martin-Boeing joint venture United Launch Alliance. Aerojet develops and manufactures the Atlas V boosters. The rocket, built in Decatur, Alabama, consists of a first stage powered by kerosene and liquid oxygen, which uses a Russian made RD-180 engine, and a liquid hydrogen–liquid oxygen powered Centaur upper stage. Some configurations also use strap-on booster rockets. Together these components are referred to as the Atlas V launch vehicle.

In its 12 launches, from its maiden launch in August 2002 to March 2008, the Atlas V has had a near perfect success rate. On one flight, NRO L-30 on June 15, 2007, an upper-stage anomaly occurred when the engine in the vehicle's Centaur upper stage shut down early, leaving the payload -- a pair of ocean surveillance satellites -- in a lower than intended orbit. However, the customer, the National Reconnaissance Office, categorized the mission as a success. The anomaly was thoroughly investigated. Atlas V has made four successful flights since the anomaly.