Editing Mars Observer (section)

=== Launch and trajectory ===
''Mars Observer'' was launched on September 25, 1992, at 17:05:01 UTC by the [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] from [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 40|Space Launch Complex 40]] at the [[Cape Canaveral Air Force Station]] in Florida, aboard a [[Titan III|Commercial Titan III CT-4]] launch vehicle. The complete burn sequence lasted for 34 minutes after a solid-fuel [[Transfer Orbit Stage]]  placed the spacecraft into an 11-month, Mars transfer trajectory, at a final speed of 5.28&nbsp;km/s with respect to Mars.<ref name=MOLaunchPressKit/>

On August 25, 1992, particulate contamination was found within the spacecraft. After a full inspection, a cleaning was determined necessary and was performed on August 29. The suspected cause of the contamination were measures taken to protect the spacecraft prior to the landfall of [[Hurricane Andrew]] which struck the coast of Florida on August 24.{{r|MOLaunchPressKit|trash|launch}}
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{{Gallery|align=center|width=175 |File:Mars Observer - launch configuration.png|alt1=Diagram of Mars Observer in launch configuration |{{small|Diagram of Mars Observer in launch configuration.}}
|File:Mars Observer launch.png|alt2=Titan III vehicle launching the Mars Observer spacecraft |{{small|[[Titan III]] vehicle launching the ''Mars Observer'' spacecraft.}}
|File:Mars Observer - trajectory2.png|alt3=Diagram of the interplanetary trajectory of Mars Observer |{{small|Diagram of the interplanetary trajectory of ''Mars Observer''.}}
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