The Planetary Society Blog
By Emily Lakdawalla
Entry, Descent, and Landing events...refresh this often...
May. 25, 2008 | 18:02 PDT | May. 26 01:02 UTC
Hi all, sorry this isn't real-time, but I was writing things down as they happened even though the website was down, here it is...
Spacecraft indicates pressurization...
Mars Odyssey is in proper configuration for EDL comm. Comm officer says, "That's good news, thank you very much."
Star tracker is powered off, and we are beginning our acceleration
Stations are preparing to bid farewell to cruise stage, which will happen in about 8 minutes
On Mars, if you believe in simultaneity, Phoenix has already landed...
MRO has loaded their EDL sequence, and data flow is expected to start soon...
It's very quiet in the press room now...
Data is now coming down through Odyssey...
Loss of signal on X-band downlink
Confirm cruise stage separation & acquisition of UHF signal!
They now have direct-to-Earth signal...
The heads-up-display movie has started on my computer, so we're in the atmosphere...
Oops, but the comm just said standing by for atmospheric entry in 1:35
Expected peak heating in 1 minute...
We still have signal from Odyssey, 1 minute after entry
This wasn't supposed to happen, it was supposed to be lost because of plasma heating, so this is extra good news
Parachute deploy!
Radar is seeing the ground
6000 meters
Standby for lander separation
Separation detected
80 meters
30 meters
16 meters
Standing by for touchdown
Touchdown detected!
Phoenix has landed, Phoenix has landed, welcome to the northern plains of Mars!
They say it's tilted 1/4 of a degree
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