Timeline: ESA tracks MSL arrival at Mars The highlight of ESA’s support for NASA’s Curiosity landing happens at 06:29 on Monday, 6 August, when the Mars Express Lander Communication (MELACOM) system is switched on. Recording of the radio signals transmitted by the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) is planned to begin at 07:09 and end at 07:37 (all times shown as ground event time in CEST). ESA’s ground tracking station in New Norcia, Australia, will also listen and record signals from the NASA mission at the same time. At 08:15, Mars Express will contact Earth via ESA’s 35 m deep space station at New Norcia, and begin transmitting the recorded information, which should take about 11 minutes to download; signals will take nearly 14 minutes to cover the 248 million km distance to Earth. The transfer will be complete by about 08:26; the data will be transferred in real time to ESOC, and made immediately available to NASA’s MSL mission team at the Jet Propulsion Lab in California. Notes:CEST = UTC + 2 hoursEarth time = Mars time + 13min:48secMEX: Mars ExpressMSL: Mars Science LaboratoryNNO: ESA New Norcia stationAOS: Acquisition of signalS/C: SpacecraftAll times subject to change
Good to hear that NSF will be covering MSL live Chris.I have been following Curiosity's flight to Mars for months and I am pumped!I just hope I can still be awake at 1:30 am to hear the good news.
ESA’s first step in continuing Curiosity support In the coming weeks, Mars Express and the operations team at ESOC will perform several data relay overflights during the first phases of Curiosity’s mission on the surface of Mars. Then, ESA will offer a standby capability to provide dedicated support at short notice, if requested by NASA, by relaying data from Curiosity to Earth. This could become necessary if Odyssey or MRO were to experience any technical problems, for example. ESA’s tracking station network can support NASA missions, due in part to long-standing technical and operational cooperation between the two agencies. “Supporting Curiosity is an excellent example of inter-agency cooperation not only on Earth but also in deep space,” said Manfred Warhaut, ESA’s Head of Mission Operations. “No one likes going to Mars on their own; it takes cooperation and partnership to reduce risk and boost scientific return on investment.”
No, the mast doesn't go up today.
Quote from: Kaputnik on 08/06/2012 11:45 amNo, the mast doesn't go up today.Have they published a detailed timeline anywhere?