Mars Opportunity Live Thread (30 minutes to go)

[frogfromthenorth2]

From http://spaceflightnow.com/mars/mera/status.html

0424 GMT (11:24 p.m. EST Sat.)
The venting appears to be complete.

0420 GMT (11:20 p.m. EST Sat.)
The spacecraft is now scheduled to begin a procedure to vent freon coolant from its Heat Rejection System. The freon was used to cool systems during the cruise to Mars and is no longer needed.

This venting will cause the spacecraft to wobble a bit, so tiny thrusters will be used to keep the lander on course for entry.

0418 GMT (11:18 p.m. EST Sat.)
Flight director Jason Willis has polled his Mission Control team. Everything continues to look good for Opportunity's landing at 12:05 a.m. EST.

Jettison of the cruise stage is upcoming at 11:44 p.m. and entry into the atmosphere begins at 11:59 p.m.

0415 GMT (11:15 p.m. EST Sat.)
The spacecraft is 5,522 miles above Mars, traveling at a velocity of 8,094 miles per hour.

0414 GMT (11:14 p.m. EST Sat.)
Heaters are being activated to condition solid rockets used by gas generators aboard the lander. The generators inflate the impact-cushioning airbags moments before touchdown.

0412 GMT (11:12 p.m. EST Sat.)
The turn to entry attitude has been verified complete. The pointing error is 0.37 degrees, which is well within margin.

This turn was a critical event prior to Opportunity making the fiery plunge into the atmosphere by reorienting to put the heat shield facing the planet. Had the turn not occurred, the craft would burn up during entry.

0405 GMT (11:05 p.m. EST Sat.)
Landing of Opportunity in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars is now just one hour away!

Meridiani Planum is considered one of the smoothest, flattest places on the Red Planet.

[frogfromthenorth2]

1. Am I the only one watching this?!?

Live NASA TV here : http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/

[theHandpuppet]

11. Accckkk!!!!!

Tried the link, but "Server has reached capacity".

Please keep us updated!

[travisleit01]

13. Try:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Web.html

(Some mirror sites)

[arwalden]

47. The BODY LANGUAGE Of Everyone In That Room

Says "we are tense and nervous".

-- Allen

[travisleit01]

2. I have to download Real Player for Mac...

Then I'll watch it. Keep me posted in the meantime

[travisleit01]

3. Got it...

watching now.

[sonias]

4. I'm watching too

It's getting close. Safe landing to you Opportunity, may you hit your mark.

:toast:

Sonia

[frogfromthenorth2]

5. Ahhh... Nice to see that I am not alone... Kind of quiet on GD tonight

[travisleit01]

7. So...

what does all this mean? Now this guy who's on with the anchor is kind of explaining it, but most of it's going over my head.

[frogfromthenorth2]

8. Technobable... The fun part is about to start...

[frogfromthenorth2]

6. 13 minutes from cruise stage jettison...

[frogfromthenorth2]

9. 3,334 miles from Mars, traveling at 8,817 miles per hour.

[travisleit01]

10. 11:35 Update

0435 GMT (11:35 p.m. EST Sat.)
Landing is now 30 minutes away.

The next major event will be separation between the no-longer-needed cruise stage from the descent module containing the Opportunity rover. This jettison is scheduled for 11:44 p.m. EST.

Here is NASA's description of the cruise stage:

The cruise stage provides capabilities needed during the seven-month passage to Mars but not later in the mission, such as a propulsion system for trajectory correction maneuvers. Approximately 2.6 meters (8.5 feet) in diameter and 1.6 meters (5.2 feet) tall, the disc-shaped cruise stage is outfitted with solar panels and antennas on one face, and with fuel tanks and the aeroshell on the other. Around the rim sit thrusters, a star scanner and a Sun sensor.

The propulsion system uses hydrazine propellant stored in two titanium tanks. Since the the entire spacecraft spins at about 2 rotations per minute, fuel in the tanks is pushed outward toward outlets and through fuel lines to two clusters of thrusters. Each cluster has four thrusters pointing in different directions.

The star scanner and Sun sensor help the spacecraft determine its orientation. Since the rover's solar arrays are tucked away inside the aeroshell for the trip, the cruise stage needs its own for electrical energy. The arrays could generate more than 600 watts when the spacecraft was about as far from the Sun as Earth is, and generate about half that much as it nears Mars.

The cruise stage also carries a system for carrying excess heat away from the rover's computer with a pumped freon loop and rim-mounted radiators.

0431 GMT (11:31 p.m. EST Sat.)
Opportunity is currently 3,334 miles from Mars, traveling at 8,817 miles per hour.

Mission Control confirms that the gas generator heaters are active.

0426 GMT (11:26 p.m. EST Sat.)
Meanwhile, the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey orbiters are verified in good shape. The spacecraft will be used for communications relay from Opportunity over the course of the evening. MGS will be receiving live information from the rover during descent while Odyssey will fly over the landing site a few hours later to collect data for transmission back to Earth.

[frogfromthenorth2]

12. 0440 GMT (11:40 p.m. EST Sat.)

0440 GMT (11:40 p.m. EST Sat.)
The power system controllers report the current draw from the lander batteries is normal. Earlier, there had been some worry about the power but that was caused by telemetry drop out. All appears fine.

Opportunity is currently 2,183 miles from Mars, traveling over 9,400 miles per hour.

[Heyo]

15. 2 minutes to cruise stage jetison

n/t

[travisleit01]

14. What did they just say they were eating? n/t

[Heyo]

16. good luck peanuts

[frogfromthenorth2]

18. Welcome to DU Heyo!

[travisleit01]

22. Yes welcome! n/t

[travisleit01]

19. Good to know... n/t

[frogfromthenorth2]

17. Good Luck Peanuts... lol... JPL tradition...

[travisleit01]

20. Interesting... you can see I'm new at this :) n/t

[travisleit01]

21. CREW STAGE JETTISON! n/t

[Heyo]

23. Successfuly cruise stage separation.

Picked up on doppler falling away

[travisleit01]

25. Applause!

:toast:

"Thank you for flying with us - hope you had a pleasant journey!" At least they have a sense of humor :)

[frogfromthenorth2]

24. GOOD... it worked...

[frogfromthenorth2]

26. Opportunity is poised for entering the atmosphere in about 13 minutes.

[travisleit01]

27. On the edge of my seat...

Just under 13 min. 1,264 miles. 10,329 mph.

[Heyo]

28. 2100 miles from landing site..

approx 8,000 MPH and closing fast

[frogfromthenorth2]

29. Hey, That guy is wearing the same shirt he did last time (with the flag)

lol

[Sven77]

30. 0445 GMT (11:45 p.m. EST Sat.)

The cruise stage has been jettisoned from the Opportunity descent module! The stage, which separates with the help of springs, will ultimately impact Mars.

Opportunity is poised for entering the atmosphere in about 13 minutes.

[frogfromthenorth2]

32. 11 minutes....

[travisleit01]

31. Touchdown in ~ 16 min. 11 min. til entry! n/t

[Heyo]

34. system temperatures...

all within the "sweet spot"

[frogfromthenorth2]

33. 0449 GMT (11:49 p.m. EST Sat.)

A low-gain antenna on the spacecraft's backshell is transmitting simple "tones" to give Earth some idea of its health during entry.

The system has about 100 possible tones to provide information such as whether the cruise stage has separated, whether the parachute opens and whether the deceleration rate is within the expected range.

[Heyo]

35. by this time..

because of light-time distance.. it is possibly already on the ground

[frogfromthenorth2]

37. The delay is about 10 minutes no?

[Heyo]

38. about that yeah n/t

[frogfromthenorth2]

40. Must be bouncing now...lol

[frogfromthenorth2]

42. Damn CNN not covering this yet... dumbass...

[frogfromthenorth2]

36. A pre-entry poll of Mission Control is underway.

[frogfromthenorth2]

39. Five minutes from entering the atmosphere.

Opportunity is now traveling at 11,400 mph, continuing to increase due to the pull of Martian gravity.

[Heyo]

41. altitude 258 miles n/t

[Heyo]

43. 1 minute to atmosphereic entry

12071 MPH.

here we go, hold on to your hats! :toast:

heyo

[Terwilliger]

44. 1 minute to go; 12007 mph

[frogfromthenorth2]

46. no..20 seconds...lol

[frogfromthenorth2]

50. CNN on it on...

[frogfromthenorth2]

51. LIVE on CNN

[frogfromthenorth2]

45. 1 minute

[Heyo]

49. Mach 28.4

altitude 38.13 miles

[TrogL]

48. vehicle slowing down

[Heyo]

52. maximum deceleration

6.4gs

[Heyo]

54. 16 miles altitude

600 MPH

[TrogL]

53. 6.4 g's slowing to 5 g's

[Heyo]

55. parachute deployment in 50 seconds

this is it!

[Heyo]

parachute deployed.....

radar aquired the ground. heat shield jetisoned

[TrogL]

56. parachute deployed

[TrogL]

58. heat shield separated

[frogfromthenorth2]

57. Chute OPEN !!!!

[travisleit01]

59. WOO HOO!!

:bounce:

[Heyo]

60. air bags in 20 seconds

[TrogL]

61. retros fired

[TrogL]

62. bounce signal

[Heyo]

64. IT"S ALIVE!!!!!!!!

IT"S ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GO NASA!!!!!!!!!!

[TrogL]

successful landing

[TrogL]

65. strong signal

[frogfromthenorth2]

63. Now...the wait begins...

[Terwilliger]

66. LANDED!

strong signal!

[Heyo]

68. very strong signal!!!!

Looks like weve gone for a two-fer!

[frogfromthenorth2]

67. WOW

[Terwilliger]

69. CNN showing bounce video

hell of a plan, eh? if you can see the landing, bounce it?

[Terwilliger]

70. Was that Al Gore?

[Terwilliger]

72. AHH-nold is there

[TrogL]

71. rolling on the surface

[Ready4Change]

73. Heyo, Trogl

thanks for the last moments play by play. :bounce:

[Heyo]

74. still rolling...

still rolling very slowly...

rolling to a stop...

I guess they can tell by the angle of the antenna because they have left and right signals..

[tridim]

77. Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'...

Keep that lander rollin'...

[Heyo]

75. youre welcome!

:toast: I love it!...

[frogfromthenorth2]

76. I wish all my threads would be that popular....lol

[Heyo]

78. first tone

first tone transmitted after bouncing.. base petal down it looks like. (sweet!)

[Heyo]

81. vehicles landed with 2.3g velocity..

and just received "no fault" tone. that mean no errors during EDL, and spacecraft is healthy.

Heyo

[tridim]

79. Base pedal tones!

[tridim]

85. The signal still says it's rolling?

Even though pedals are down. Whaa?

[frogfromthenorth2]

80. NO fault tone

[frogfromthenorth2]

82. Means everything still together...lol

[Heyo]

83. landed plus Y petal down

.. one of the side petals

[frogfromthenorth2]

84. Not base petal down.... not sure if it's still rolling.... ?!?!

[Ready4Change]

86. It's martians rolling it into the vast underground caverns.

Just adding to their collection. ;)

[frogfromthenorth2]

87. lol

[frogfromthenorth2]

88. Damn.... just lost my connection to NASA TV....

[ewagner]

89. Same here........

was enjoying it....except for the self-agrandizing Arhnould........

[Heyo]

90. Mr total recall..

gets a real taste of Mars..

[arwalden]

91. Al Gore Was Present.... YAY!

[frogfromthenorth2]

92. Yeah... he said he invented the Mars Rover.... ?!?!

[arwalden]

93. Does NASA Sterilize The Lander?

Are we contributing any of our own bacteria or microbes (or even a human HAIR that fell into the craft's crevice) that might contaminate the planet?

-- Allen

[frogfromthenorth2]

95. Actually: They did !!!

[frogfromthenorth2]

94. Wasn't rolling for that long.... lol

[Heyo]

96. lander righting itself as we speak. n/t

[frogfromthenorth2]

97. Missed that one.... Cool...

[Heyo]

98. Funny.. the vehicle was rated to handle 40g impact

And it hit with 2 to 3 gs.. they said the craft barely noticed it touched anything

[arwalden]

100. I Heard That... The First Impact Must Have Been A "Glancing" Hit..

at a very low angle.

-- Allen

[frogfromthenorth2]

99. Good night everybody...that's it.... show is over...

[Heyo]

101. that kinda sucks

that nasa TV went off the air

[frogfromthenorth2]

102. Cool thing is that we will have nice pics in the morning!

[TrogL]

103. NASA website says it's on its side

and will right itself when the airbags deflate.