From: Robert Owen (rowen@technologist.com)
Date: Sat Dec 04 1999 - 02:28:12 MST
Mars Polar Lander Update - December 3, 1999 - 5PM PST
Date: Sat, 04 Dec 1999 01:07:08 -0800 (PST)
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
The next communications window opens at 6:27 p.m. PST today
when the team will again send commands to the lander instructing
it to maneuver its medium gain antenna in another attempt to look
for Earth. The lander would then carry out that procedure to trans-
mit to Earth beginning at 8:08 p.m. until 10:40 p.m. tonight PST.
Even if no transmissions are heard today mission controllers have
another opportunity to hear from the lander on Saturday. This is
the time the spacecraft would be transmitting if it went into a safe
mode shortly after landing. Engineers would also listen for it on
Sunday evening, when the spacecraft would automatically switch
to its UHF radio and transmit via Mars Global Surveyor. After that,
they will send commands instructing the spacecraft to swap
between various hardware subsystems in case one is damaged.
The flight team's best flight path estimates are that lander most
likely touched down at about 76.1 degrees south latitude, 195.3
degrees west longitude.
=======================
Robert M. Owen
Director
The Orion Institute
57 W. Morgan Street
Brevard, NC 28712-3659 USA
=======================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Fri Nov 01 2002 - 15:05:57 MST