4:37 PST: expecting the MRO to start receiving data in 2 minutes 30 seconds
4:38 PST: why the hell is Mike Griffin at the JPL mission control, wearing a blue t-shirt and looking like he's doing something?
4:39 PST: cruise stage separation, a UHF signal has been received by
4:43 PST: MRO now has signal as well. Atmospheric entry in 1 minute 35 seconds
4:45 PST: by the way, all these times and signals received are about 20 minutes late due to light speed delay. If the Phoenix landed safely, then it already happened and we just won't know until 20 minutes after the fact. all those folks in JPL aren't actually doing anything right now, they're just watching
4:48 PST: peak heating, and yet we are still seeing a signal from Phoenix via Odyssey, even through the plasma generated by the ablation of the heat shield
4:50 PST: parachute deployment. The next big thing is separation of Phoenix from the parachute and ignition of its landing rockets
4:53 PST: it's plummeting
4:54 PST: touchdown signal detected. The numbers being called out by the guy at mission control suggested that it was falling much faster than it should have been, but so far it looks like it didn't lithobrake.
2 comments:
Didn't lithobrake. Are you suggesting that something other than electrostatic forces should be used for braking?
I am suggesting that, given the altitude readings by the commentator at JPL, it was coming down really fast, and given the success rate of landing probes on Mars, that I was surprised that Phoenix didn't make a new crater on the planet.
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