It is now almost exactly a year since launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida on the 26th Nov. 2011. The rocket was an Atlas 541 (5 m diameter fairing, 4 solid fuel boosters, 1 main rocket with a liquid oxygen fuel engine).
I remember the tremendous noise and vibration even from our viewing point a few km away from the launch pad. One of the key engineering tasks in building spacecraft is vibration testing to ensure that they survive launch. Despite the inevitable shaking it received at launch Curiosity survived intact.
Cape Canaveral was at a interesting stage in its own history as the last shuttle launch had occurred. The shuttle Endeavor was being prepared for its final flight on the back of a Jumbo Jet new place in the Los Angeles Space museum.
There has been a break in MSL operations during the US Thanksgiving holiday.
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