# Presentation: 035553

## Phoenix Landing Scenarios:

- Helping Your Audiences Understand
- What’s Happening During Entry, Descent, & Landing

## News Briefings & Live TV at a Glance

**News Briefings & Live TV at a Glance**

- May 22	11:30 am -12:30 pm PDT	Phoenix Overview News Briefing
- May 24	12:00 pm -  1:00 pm PDT	Phoenix Status Briefing
- Landing Day:
- May 25	12:00 pm - 1:00 pm PDT	Phoenix Status Briefing
- 	 3:00 pm - 3:30 pm PDT	Possible Clean Feed from Mission Control
- 	 3:30 pm -  5:45 pm PDT	Live Commentary #1 on NASA TV Public Channel
- 	     4:53 pm PDT	   LANDING:  Earth Receive Time
- 	 5:45 pm - 6:30 pm  PDT	Clean Feed from Mission Control
- 	 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm  PDT	Live Commentary #2 on NASA TV Public Channel
- 	     6:43 pm 	   First Downlink for Phoenix images begins 			   	    (if no signal obtained after landing, this is next chance for signal)
- 	 8:00 pm - 9:00 pm  PDT	Clean Feed from Mission Control or B-roll
- 	 9:00 pm -10:00 pm PDT	News Briefing Following Downlink
- May 26	11:00 am PDT	News Briefing (may be earlier if in contingency situation)
*May 27   **	**11:00 am PDT**	**News Briefing *(may be on NASA TV)
*May 28**	**11:00 am PDT**	**News Briefing *(may be on NASA TV)
*May 29**	**11:00 am PDT**	**News Briefing *(may be on NASA TV)

**Monitor Schedule Changes at:  http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html**

## Connection to NASA TV--Continental US

**Connection to NASA TV--Continental US**

- NASA TV:
- MPEG-2 digital C-band signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C,
- 4040 MHz, vertical polarization.
- A Digital Video Broadcast-compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder is required for reception.

**For more info:  http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html**

- Digital Satellite C-Band Downlink for continental North America:
- Uplink provider = Americom
- Satellite = AMC 6
- Transponder = 17C
- 72 Degrees West
- Downlink Frequency: 4040 Mhz
- Polarity: Vertical
- FEC = 3/4
- Data Rate r= 36.860 MHz
- Symbol = 26.665 Ms
- Transmission = DVB
- "**Public**" Programming:
- Program = 101 (HQ1), Video PID = 0111 decimal = 0x006F, Audio PID = 0114 decimal =0x0072, AC-3 PID = 0115 decimal = 0x0073
- BACKUP:  **"Media"** Programming:Program = 103 (HQ3), Video PID = 1031 decimal = 0x0407, Audio PID = 1034 decimal =0x040A, AC-3 PID = 1035 decimal = 0x040B

## Connection to NASA TV--Alaska and Hawaii

**Connection to NASA TV--Alaska and Hawaii**

- NASA TV:
- In Alaska and Hawaii, it is available on AMC-7 at 137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz horizontal polarization.
- A Digital Video Broadcast-compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder is required for reception.

**For more info:  http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/digital.html**

- Uplink provider = Americom
- Satellite = AMC 7
- Transponder = 18C
- 137 Degrees West
- Downlink Frequency: 4060 Mhz
- Polarity: Vertical
- FEC = 3/4
- Data Rate = 36.860
- MHzSymbol = 26.665
- MsTransmission = DVB
**"Public"** Programming: Program = 101 (HQ1), Video PID = 0111 decimal = 0x006F, Audio PID = 0114 decimal =0x0072, AC-3 PID = 0115 decimal = 0x0073
- BACKUP:**  "Media"** Programming:Program = 103 (HQ3), Video PID = 1031 decimal = 0x0407, Audio PID = 1034 decimal =0x040A, AC-3 PID = 1035 decimal = 0x040B

## Connection to NASA  through the Web

**For more info:  http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv**

- •	Connect to NASA through the web at your own risk--due to high traffic, your 	connection might be slow or sometimes drop out (NASA is prepared for 	high levels of traffic, but there are no guarantees)
- •	Try to connect early--if the world tunes in at 3:30 PDT, it may take time for 	you to establish a connection
- •	You may wish to have a second computer linked in as a back-up and 		switch to that in the event that the primary computer locks up
- •	at _[www.nasa.gov/ntv](http://www.nasa.gov/ntv)_, the right-hand nav has a section “other viewing 		options” with Windows Media identified as best for full screen
- •	If the connection drops and you cannot reconnect to the NASA TV Public 	Station, you can try connecting to the non-commentated version through 	the NASA TV media link, which will show what’s happening in mission 	control with engineering discussions only
- 	--however, the draft timeline of commentary may be useful for your 		presenters, who can then step in and help interpret events as they occur

## Event Planning

- •	available for download on the front page of the Museum Alliance site under 	“Breaking News” as embargoed information
- 	informal.jpl.nasa.gov/museums
- •	please respect the embargo; it is a privilege extended to you as a NASA 	Museum Alliance partner; external distribution would threaten our future ability 	to provide advance resources to you for your planning purposes

**Event Planning**

## Landing Timeline at a Glance- 5/25/08 all times pm PDT

**4:16****	****Propulsion system pressurization**
**4:38****	****Begin continuous transmission of Phoenix data received by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter and ****	****relayed to Goldstone, CA Deep Space Network station**
**4:38****	****Green Bank, WV radio telescope listening for direct UHF from Phoenix**
**4:39****	****Cruise stage separates**
**4:40****	****Spacecraft turns to attitude for atmospheric entry**
**4:46:33****	****Spacecraft enters Martian atmosphere**
**4:47 - 4:49****	****Likely blackout period as hot plasma surrounds spacecraft**
**4:50:15****	****Parachute deploys, plus or minus about 13 seconds**
**4:50:30****	****Heat shield jettisoned, plus or minus about 13 seconds**
**4:50:40****	****Legs deploy, plus or minus about 13 seconds**
**4:51:30 ****	****Radar activated**
**4:53:09 ****	****Lander separates from backshell, plus or minus about 46 seconds**
**4:53:08 - 4:53:14 ****	****Transmission gap during switch to helix antenna **
**4:53:12****	****Descent thrusters throttle up**
**4:53:34 ****	****Constant-velocity phase starts, plus or minus about 46 seconds**
**4:53:52 ****	****Touchdown, plus or minus about 46 seconds**
**4:54:52****	****Lander radio off, plus or minus about 46 seconds**
**5:13****	****Begin opening solar arrays (during radio silence)**
**5:28****	****Begin NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter playback of Phoenix transmissions recorded ****	****	****during entry, descent and landing. (Data for analysis not ready for several hours).**
**5:30****	****Begin Europe's Mars Express spacecraft playback of Phoenix transmissions ****	****	****	****recorded during entry, descent and landing. (Data not ready for several hours). **
**5:30****	****Post-landing poll of subsystem teams about spacecraft status**
**6:43 - 7:02****	****Mars Odyssey transmission from Phoenix, with engineering data and possibly first images.**** Data ****	****could take up to about 30 additional minutes in pipeline before being accessible. If all goes well, ****	****live television feed from control room may show first images as they are received. The first ****	****	****images to be taken after landing will be of solar arrays, to check deployment status.**
**9:00****	****News Briefing**

**Landing Timeline at a Glance- 5/25/08 all times pm PDT**

## Landing Timeline at a Glance- 5/25/08 all times pm PDT

**Landing Timeline at a Glance- 5/25/08 all times pm PDT**

- •	times on slide 7 are for a nominal scenario
- •	remaining navigational adjustments (trajectory correction maneuvers) could 	shift times by up to about half a minute
- •	times for some events relative to others could vary by several seconds due to 	variations in the Martian atmosphere and other factors
- •	for some events, a “give or take” ranges of times is given, covering 99% of 	possible scenarios from the atmospheric entry time
- •	some other scenarios include:
- 	•	loss of communications following pressurization
- 	•	loss of communications at cruise separation
- 	•	loss of communications prior to touchdown
- 	•	no signal following touchdown
- 	•	partial deployment of the solar arrays
- 	•	no deployment of the solar arrays
- •	to manage audience expectations, if clear signals are not returned during 	entry, descent, and landing, it does not necessarily mean mission failure; the 	next opportunity to connect with Mars Odyssey happens a few hours later

## Ideas for Communicating to Your Audiences 

**In Alternative Scenarios**

- •	it may take some time for NASA to analyze engineering data and determine 	spacecraft health or potential mission loss; if that is the case, some key points 	may help address audience concerns
- •	“Mars is Hard”:  roughly 2/3 of all international missions to the red planet have 	not been successful given the engineering challenges and hazards of the 	Martian environment
- •	Phoenix is using rockets for controlling motion during the final phase of its 	descent, then will set down on three legs, a type of landing system used 	successfully by Viking 1 and 2 landers in 1976 and unsuccessfully by Mars 	Polar Lander in 1999
- •	through extensive testing, NASA found and addressed many issues that could 	have prevented a successful landing, but any loss proves again how difficult it 	is to land on Mars
- •	while disappointing that new discoveries in the Martian arctic won’t be made 	this time, NASA has a program of ongoing missions to Mars so that no single 	mission failure jeopardizes the whole program--the icy soil in the Martian 	arctic will still be there to explore when humankind is ready to try again

## Ideas for Communicating to Your Audiences 

**In Alternative Scenarios**

- •	America’s investment in this mission was not spent in outer space, but in 	several communities on Earth for hundreds of scientists, engineers, and other 	participants who worked on advanced robotics, solar-powered electronics, and 	other technologies that can be put to use in future endeavors
- 	•	University students also gained experience and inspiration for valuable 		careers in science and engineering
- •	the lessons learned from the experiences of this mission will instruct NASA’s 	ability to land	successfully in the future
- 	•	engineering communications data during descent was made a priority for 		Phoenix so that engineers could learn more about what happened and 		reduce risks during future landings
- 	•	by comparison, in the 1960s, the first six attempts of reaching the moon in 		the Ranger program all failed, but provided lessons learned for later 		attempts (Ranger 7-9 were successful, and paved the way for human 		landings)