Updates ExoMars News & Updates

[DaveS]

The live coverage (http://livestream.com/ESA/exomarssocialtv) is... uhhmm... somewhat chaotic... :uhh:
It's only their 2º landing attempt anyway. :shrug:

What do you mean 2nd landing? 2nd Mars landing? Beagle II doesn't count, it was entirely British, no ESA involvement past the interface to MEX.

 

[Urwumpe]

Well, its two spacecraft having their major sequence at the same time. Sadly I can't watch it, still busy at work, can only follow it on Twitter via smartphone.

 

[Ravenous]

From http://m.esa.int/Our_Activities/Space_Science/ExoMars/Live_updates_ExoMars_arrival_and_landing

16:17 CEST: ExoMars Flight Director Michel Denis confirms that the signal from the Schiaparelli entry, descent and landing demonstrator module is coming through strong and clear as it falls gently towards Mars via the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT) near Pune, India.

"falls gently"?

 

[Urwumpe]

"falls gently"?

Crashing softly?

Luckily Mars has only half the gravity, so falling down from 2 meters altitude is like falling about 50 cm on Earth.

 

[GLS]

It's on the surface by now, intact or in pieces. Just waiting for the signals to arrive to Earth.

 

[Ravenous]

The "Falls gently" was in anticipation of a fairly severe deceleration when it hit the atmosphere

Anyway, here's hoping for a happy landing.

 

[DaveS]

It's on the surface by now, intact or in pieces. Just waiting for the signals to arrive to Earth.

For now we only have a very weak carrier signal which is expected to fade during entry and landing. Best chance is play-back of data recorded by MEX in about an hour.

 

[GLS]

SIGNAL DETECTION!! #GMRT detects @ESA_EDM signal after plasma blackout, final moments of descent coming #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 54s54 seconds ago

Further jumps in the signals from #GMRT - should show heatshield separation and powered descent #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 1m1 minute ago

#GMRT signal increase indicated @ESA_EDM is now on its main antenna, flying free from the parachute #ExoMars

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(it's taking too long...)

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Emily Lakdawalla ‏@elakdawalla 35s35 seconds ago

Emily Lakdawalla Retweeted Allen Chen

This from the man who kept us all calm during Curiosity's landing...

Emily Lakdawalla added,
Allen Chen @icancallubetty
This is frightening. Strong signal during powered descent. Don't see anything on the UHF spectrum. [ame="https://twitter.com/esaoperations/status/788756143459934208"]ESA Operations on Twitter: "#GMRT signal increase indicated @ESA_EDM is now on its main antenna, flying free from the parachute #ExoMars"[/ame] …
0 replies 7 retweets 7 likes

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 1m1 minute ago

Still waiting for signal of @ESA_EDM touchdown from #GMRT #ExoMars

 

[DaveS]

 

[GLS]

ESA_Schiaparelli ‏@ESA_EDM 1m1 minute ago

15:03UT: Accordingly to nominal timeline, Schiaparelli be shutting down its radio after landing to conserve power. Stay tuned #ExoMars

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Emily Lakdawalla ‏@elakdawalla 1m1 minute ago

If we hear nothing further from EDM right now, next chance to learn news is from TGO transmission of telemetry in ~45-55 minutes.

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*deafening silence*

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 47s47 seconds ago

High above @ESA_EDM, #MarsExpress has finished listening to the Schiaparelli, ready to relay the recording to Earth #ExoMars

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Emily Lakdawalla ‏@elakdawalla now

Correction to this tweet: the recording of the telemetry we're looking forward to is from Mars Express, not TGO.

 

[DaveS]

Remember, signal strength was low to begin with. This could be indicative that we're right on the edge of the antenna of the spacecraft. It's the same problem that the STEREO team has with STEREO-B, comms are on the edge of the LGAs. Attitude change when switching over to powered descent could have taken us out of alignment with the lander antenna.

 

[GLS]

ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 31s31 seconds ago

#MarsExpress is now swinging away from Mars, getting ready to point its main antenna at Earth and downlink the @ESA_EDM recording #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 31s31 seconds ago

.@Kizmo51 it should be around 1.5 hours before we have replayed and processed the @ESA_EDM recording #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 1m1 minute ago

.@ESA_TGO LOSS OF SIGNAL! @ESA_TGO has now passed behind Mars as expected, engine still burning as it enters orbit #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 39s39 seconds ago

Don't worry - the @ESA_TGO orbiter signal loss is normal - it now has a lonely 1 hour journey behind Mars #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 16s16 seconds ago

#MarsExpress has started transmitting the @ESA_EDM landing recording. Even at light speed it will take 9m47s to reach Earth #ExoMars

 

[Ravenous]

Waiting...

What we need is Mark Watney with a set of jump leads.

 

[GLS]

Another live coverage starting http://livestream.com/ESA/marsarrival

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 31s31 seconds ago

#MarsExpress signal acquired! The ESA Deep Space Antenna #Cebreros reports a clear signal from @ESA's veteran Mars mission. #ExoMars

 

[Urwumpe]

Waiting...

What we need is Mark Watney with a set of jump leads.

We should make it mandatory to bring a bag of potatoes to Mars with every lander, manned or unmanned. :lol:

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The size of the EDM uplink recording in MEX memory is consistent with expected size before landing. Nominal.

 

[GLS]

ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 1m1 minute ago

Engineer @marwood82 report to #FlightDirector: size of @ESA_EDM recording on-board #MarsExpress is consistent with expected size #ExoMars

 

[Ravenous]

ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations · 2m2 minutes ago

Engineer @marwood82 report to #FlightDirector: size of @ESA_EDM recording on-board #MarsExpress is consistent with expected size

Guess that means they got the whole transmission as expected, so no (catastrophic)failure?

Hah sorry about the multiple post guys, I'll listen and learn for a while!

 

[GLS]

ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations now

.@kona404 it will take just over 10 minutes for #MarsExpress to transmit the @ESA_EDM recording #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 31s31 seconds ago

.@tsrandall @kona404 Interpretation of the @ESA_EDM recording is quite complex - could take more than 30 minutes #ExoMars

 

[Urwumpe]

BTW, who is interested in the nuts and bolts of ESA telemetry, the communication protocol is standardized since 1988:

http://microelectronics.esa.int/vhdl/pss/PSS-04-106.pdf

 

[GLS]

ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 40s40 seconds ago

#MarsExpress team now processing @ESA_EDM landing recording to extract the trace of the lander's signal as it descended to Mars #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 48s48 seconds ago

When we acquire the @ESA_TGO signal from behind Mars, #FlightDynamics will calculate the precise orbit reached #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 16s16 seconds ago

.@ESA_TGO will begin to emerge from behind Mars in just a few more minutes. All waiting to find how the #BigBurn went! #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 5s5 seconds ago

#MarsExpress recording of @ESA_EDM descent is now processed and is being analysed by experts at #ESOC #ExoMars

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Signal from TGO!!!

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Emily Lakdawalla Retweeted
Sarah Milkovich ‏@milkysa 2m2 minutes ago

Always delightful to see a new squiggly line appear on @dsn_status - Go @ESA_TGO !

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 41s41 seconds ago

#FlightDynamics need around 2 hours of data to confirm we've reached orbit with @ESA_TGO, should come around 20:30 CEST #ExoMars

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ESA Operations ‏@esaoperations 1m1 minute ago

Initial reports from @ESA_TGO telemetry are that it performed exactly as expected during the #BigBurn #ExoMars