On December 3, 1999, NASA's Mars Polar Lander spacecraft is scheduled
to touch down near the south pole of the Red Planet. The Lander
carries cameras and equipment to study layered terrain that might give
clues to Mars' climate. Mars Polar Lander will also deliver two
"microprobes" which will plummet as much as two meters deep into the
surface of Mars at 200 m/s, and, if they survive impact, test the soil
for the presence of water ice and relay weather information. The
lander also carries a microphone which may allow us to hear the
Lander's operations from the surface of Mars, and may even allow us to
hear the Martian wind. For more information, browse the website at
http://mars/msp98/index.html. You can also subscribe to the MPL
mailing list at this site. The press kit will be posted on the website
as soon as it is available.
The landing event, press conferences, and other briefings will be
covered live on NASA Television (as well as on major networks). NASA
Television (NTV) is a resource designed to provide real-time coverage
of Agency activities and missions as well as providing resource video
to the news media, and educational programming to teachers, students
and the general public.
NTV is broadcast on GE-2, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees
West longitude.The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical
and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz.
Due to the Shuttle's Hubble repair mission, scheduled for launch in
early December, the Mars Polar Lander events MAY move to another
satellite for several days sometime after Dec 6; check the websites for
latest info.
NTV is also available over the World Wide Web from several sources.
Check http://www.nasa.gov/ntv/ for schedule and more info.
JPL's newsroom will be open from Nov. 29 - Dec 10. A timeline for
events during this period is given below.
The Mars Surveyor Program's Education website is at
http://marsnt3.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.html Your feedback and
suggestions are welcome!
Mars Polar Lander/Deep Space 2
News Timeline
All times Pacific Standard Time (PST)
Revised 11-12-99
Monday, November 29
JPL newsroom opens (staffed 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily unless otherwise
noted)
Tuesday, November 30
10-11 a.m.: Background briefing, "Mars the Planet" (introduction to
Mars)
12 noon-1 p.m.: Mission overview news briefing. Includes an overview
of mission activities; technology of Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2;
and an initial status report from trajectory correction #4, which is scheduled
to have taken place at ~10 a.m.
Afternoon: Media walkthroughs in JPL mission control, UCLA science
area
Wednesday, December 1
10-11 a.m.: Science overview news briefing. This will begin with a
short daily mission status, which will report on the flight path that resulted
from the trajectory correction maneuver on Tuesday.
12 noon- 1 p.m.: Background briefing, "The Search for Water, the
Search for Life" (water and its role in the possible development of
life in niches throughout the solar system)
Afternoon: Media walkthroughs in JPL mission control, UCLA science
area
Thursday, December 2
10-11 a.m.: News briefing. This will report on the activation of the
command sequence on the spacecraft that will control all entry, descent
and landing activities (this activation will have taken place very
early Thursday morning). In addition, there will be a discussion of
possible mission contingencies
12 noon-1 p.m.: News briefing on landing site, including recent
observations from instruments on the currently orbiting Mars Global
Surveyor.
1-6 p.m.: "Live shot" satellite TV interviews will be booked with
stations/networks around the country
Newsroom open 24 hours beginning Thursday night
Friday, December 3
2-6 a.m.: "Live shot" satellite TV interviews
9 a.m.: News briefing with short daily status, preview of day's
events. This would also report on the optional trajectory correction
maneuver #5, which would take place if required at about 4 a.m. Friday
11 a.m.-2 p.m.: Commentated TV feed
12:14 p.m.: Landing (Earth-received time)
12:37 p.m.: First signal from lander
Landing initiates the first Martian day of the mission, or "sol 0."
Immediately after touchdown, the spacecraft deploys its solar panels
and carries out other activities to secure itself and prepare for later
operations.
The spacecraft will transmit for approximately 45 minutes, sending
information on the health and engineering state of the lander and events
during
entry, descent and landing.
Following this session, the lander will power down and "sleep" for
about six hours to recharge its battery
3-6 p.m.: "Live shot" satellite TV interviews
2 p.m.: News briefing with first results from landing
[3-8 p.m.: No news briefings/activities or Mars TV programming]
8 p.m.-11 p.m.: Commentated TV feed
At about 7:30 p.m., the Deep Space 2 microprobes will begin sending
data to Mars Global Surveyor. These data will be received on Earth by
about 9:30 p.m. Commands will be sent to the microprobes via Mars
Global Surveyor to conduct their soil tests, the results of which will
be received during a pass beginning at about 9:30 p.m. If the
microprobes are unable to receive commands from Mars Global Surveyor,
they would wait until landing plus 29 and 32 hours, respectively, and
then transmit data.
At about 8:30 p.m., the lander will begin transmitting to Earth for
approximately 2-1/4 hours. Flight controllers will select the highest data
rate they believe that they can achieve reliably.
By about 11 p.m., the lander will shut down for the day. During the
ensuing arctic "night," the lander will "wake up" a total of four times
to take a few pictures and measure temperature and air pressure. No data will
be transmitted to Earth during the night.
12 midnight: News briefing with pictures and other data from lander's
evening transmission session; initial results from Deep Space 2
Saturday, December 4
Time TBD: Possible release of first sound clip from Mars microphone at
Planetary Society's Planetfest in Pasadena (simultaneous release from
JPL newsroom and on web)
3-4 p.m.: Background briefing, "Future Robotic Mars Exploration"
5-6 p.m.: News briefing with overnight results, plans for the coming
Martian day (sol 1)
Lander begins transmitting at about 7:15 p.m. PST, which is equivalent
to about 10:45 a.m. local Mars time. The Martian day moves 37 minutes later
for
each day of the mission. If flight controllers are satisfied with the
state of the lander, they will command it to carry out planned
activities for sol 1, including a 5- to 6-hour communication session
sending data.
7-11 p.m.: Commentated TV feed
11 p.m.-12 midnight: News briefing with results in progress from sol
1
Sunday, December 5
10-11 a.m.: News briefing with results from previous day.
3-4 p.m.: Background briefing, "Space and Earth Sciences"
(non-televised)
(overview of JPL missions and research in areas other than Mars
exploration)
5-6 p.m.: News briefing on plans for the Martian coming day (sol 2)
7:30 p.m.-12 midnight: Commentated TV feed
Lander begins transmitting on sol 2 at about 7:50 p.m. Before sol 2
activities begin, the communication relay link from the lander to Mars
Global Surveyor will be tested.
Sunday night is final night of 24-hour newsroom staffing
Monday, December 6
2-6 a.m.: "Live shot" satellite TV interviews
10-11 a.m.: Daily news briefing.
Lander begins transmitting on sol 3 at about 8:30 p.m. There will be
no live coverage of this session.
Tuesday, December 7
10-11 a.m.: Daily news briefing.
Lander begins transmitting on sol 4 at about 9 p.m. Under a best-case
scenario, the robot arm may attempt to dig into or scratch the soil
surface no earlier than sol 4 and 5 on Tuesday and Wednesday evening
~10 p.m.-12 midnight??: Commentated TV feed from UCLA and JPL during
robot arm operations (date dependent on spacecraft/telecommunications
status after landing)
Wednesday, December 8
10-11 a.m.: Daily news briefing. The briefing on the morning
following the first soil dig will be the first news briefing
originating jointly from JPL and UCLA
Lander begins transmitting on sol 5 at about 9:40 p.m
~11 p.m.-1 a.m.??: Commentated TV feed from UCLA and JPL during robot
arm operations (date dependent on spacecraft/telecommunications status
after landing)
Thursday, December 9
10-11 a.m.: Daily news briefing
Friday, December 10
10-11 a.m.: Daily news briefing
5 p.m.: JPL newsroom closes (UCLA newsroom to remain open through
Friday, December 17)
December 11, 1999-February 28, 2000
Status reports and briefings as mission events dictate
Schedule for Pictures and Other Data
The schedule for reception of pictures and other data from the lander
is highly dependent on the spacecraft's state following landing --
particularly, how high a data rate the mission team can achieve using
the telecommunications system.
For this reason, it is not possible to offer a firm schedule of when
pictures and other data will be received. For general planning
purposes, however, it is possible to note the earliest possible date
for some items under an extremely-best-case scenario.
Shortly after landing midday on Friday, December 3, the lander will
transmit to Earth for approximately 45 minutes. This session is
expected to consist mainly of information on the health and engineering
state of the lander and events during entry, descent and landing. It
is possible that this session may include a low-resolution
black-and-white image.
During the communication session on Friday evening, December 3, the
mission team will attempt to achieve the highest possible data rate
with the lander. At a low rate, data sent to Earth during this session
could include black-and-white images from the lander camera. At higher
data rates, this session could include some color images as well as
some images from the descent camera.
Data from the Deep Space 2 microprobes are expected to be received
Friday evening, December 3, and could be reported as soon as the news
briefing at 12 midnight that night. Results of the probes' soil
experiments could be received early morning Saturday, December 4. If
communications conditions are difficult, however, it is possible that
contact could be established with the microprobes for the first time on
Saturday, December 4. The communication session with the lander on Saturday
evening, December
4, under best possible conditions could include remaining pictures from
the descent camera; a stereo image mosaic of the soil near the robot
arm; and data from the Mars volatiles science payload.
The first sound from the surface of Mars via the lander's microphone
could be released no earlier than Saturday, December 4, under a
best-case scenario.
A movie built up from pictures from the lander's descent imager may be
released no earlier than early in the week of Monday-Friday, December
6-10. A 360-degree color panorama from the camera on the lander's deck
may be released in approximately this same time frame.
Under a best-case scenario, the lander's robot arm could perform its
first dig no earlier than late Tuesday evening, December 7. The first
dig will probably occupy two evenings, with analysis of the soil sample
performed on the second evening.
As noted above, however, all of these events and data releases could
move later into the mission due to telecommunications factors or other
conditions.
Anita M. Sohus
Co-Lead, Solar System Exploration Theme
Office of Communications and Education
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory
4800 Oak Grove Drive, Mail Stop 264-788
Pasadena, CA 91109
Voice: 818-354-6613
FAX: 818-354-7586
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/sespd
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/voyager
http://marsnt3.jpl.nasa.gov/education/index.html
***************************************************************************
Alice S. Wessen
Lead-JPL Technology Theme
Outreach Lead-Technology and Applications Program (TAP)
http://technology.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://www.usfirst.org/
Mail Stop 180-603A
Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology
4800 Oak Grove Drive
Pasadena CA 91109-8099
818-354-4930
818-354-7354 fax
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
Arthur C. Clarke
Technology and the Future: "The only way to discover the limits of the
possible is to go beyond them into the impossible."
Richard Feynman:
"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here
and there."
****************************************************************************
****
=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:
The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).
|
