Mars Climate Orbiter:  Mars Orbit Insertion Timeline

The Mars Climate Orbiter is just 9 days from entering orbit around Mars.
This event, called Mars Orbit Insertion (MOI), will occur on September 23, 1999,
when the spacecraft approaches its closest point to the planet coming 
in over the northern hemisphere. The spacecraft will fire its 640-newton
main engine for 16 minutes 23 seconds to brake into an elliptical
capture orbit.  Below is the timeline for the key events during
the orbit insertion.

                     Mars Climate Orbiter MOI Timeline
                             September 23, 1999
                   All times in Earth Receive Time (ERT).
           One way light time from Mars is 10 minutes 55 seconds.

                         Event                    PDT    EDT    UTC
       Orbiter stows solar array                 01:41  04:41  08:41

       Orbiter turns to correct orientation
       to begin main engine burn                 01:50  04:50  08:50

       Orbiter fires pyrotechnic devices
       which open valves to begin                01:56  04:56  08:56
       pressurizing the fuel and oxidizer tanks

       Main engine burn starts,
       fires for 16 minutes 23 seconds.          02:01  05:01  09:01

       Orbiter passes behind Mars,
       out of view from Earth                    02:06  05:06  09:06

       Main engine burn ends                     02:17  05:17  09:17

       Orbiter turns to orientation which will
       allow Earth contact                       02:19  05:19  09:19

       Orbiter comes out from behind Mars,
       flight controllers regain contact         02:27  05:27  09:27

       Solar array unstows                       02:30  05:30  09:30

Mars Climate Orbiter was launched on December 11, 1998 from a Delta II launch
vehicle at Cape Canaveral Air Station, Florida.  The spacecraft carries
instruments to seek clues to the history of climate change on Mars,
and will map the Martian surface and profile the structure of the atmosphere.

Next week, Mars Climate Orbiter will fire its main engine to put itself into 
an elliptical orbit around Mars. The spacecraft will then skim through Mars' 
upper atmosphere for several weeks in a technique called aerobraking to 
reduce velocity and circularize its orbit. Friction against the spacecraft's 
single, 5.5-meter-long (18-foot) solar array will slow the spacecraft as it 
dips into the atmosphere each orbit, reducing its orbit period from more than 
14 hours to 2 hours.

Finally, the spacecraft will use its thrusters to settle into a polar,
nearly circular orbit averaging 421 kilometers (262 miles) above the
surface. From there, the orbiter will await the arrival of Mars Polar Lander
and serve as a radio relay satellite during the lander's surface mission.
After the lander's mission is over, the orbiter will begin routine
monitoring of the atmosphere, surface and polar caps for a complete Martian
year (687 Earth days), the equivalent of almost two Earth years.