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Very briefly, can you explain why the second stage temporarily shuts down at 9 minutes 20 seconds after launch and starts up again about an hour later?

April 26, 2017an hour later briefly explain launch shuts Stage Starts temporarily

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Very briefly, can you explain why the second stage temporarily shuts down at 9 minutes 20 seconds after launch and starts up again about an hour later?

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The first burn of the second stage is used to place the spacecraft in a low parking orbit around the Earth. It then coasts until it gets to the right point in its orbit to do the burn to go to Mars. The second stage then ignites again to begin pushing the spacecraft towards Mars. The third stage finishes off the job because the second stage fuel tanks are nearly empty. Back to the top of the page.