| Date (EDT) | Time (EDT) | Event | Time (UT) |
| 4 July | 12:57 PM | Landing | 16:57 |
| 4 July | 2:00 PM | Air Bag Retraction Complete | 18:00 |
| 4 July | 2:21 - 3:22 PM | Petal Opening Complete | 18:21 - 19:22 |
| 4 July | 4:44 PM | Transmitter Turned On | 20:44 |
| 4 July | 4:50 PM | Sunrise at Landing Site | 20:50 |
| 4 July | 4:55 PM | Carrier Signal Received at Ground | 20:55 |
| 4 July | 5:09 PM | First Info Received at Ground | 21:09 |
| 4 July | Nominal Plan | ||
| 4 July | 6:09 PM | High Gain Antenna Deployment | 22:09 |
| 4 July | 7:13 - 8:00 | First Downlink Session B&W, Color Engineering Images |
23:13 - 24:00 |
| 4 July | 7:30 | Color Engineering Image Acquisition Starts |
23:30 |
| 4 July | 9:00 PM | Rover Ramp Deployment | 01:00 (5 July) |
| 4 July | 9:30 PM | B&W Engineering Image Available | 01:30 |
| 4 July | 10:00 PM | Color Engineering Image Available | 02:00 |
| 4 July | 9:55 - 10:57 PM | Second Downlink Session Ramp Deploy Image |
01:55 - 02:57 |
| 4 July | 11:58 PM | Rover Deployed | 03:58 |
| 5 July | 12:24 - 1:26 AM | Third Downlink Session Rover on Mars Image, B&W 360 Pan |
04:24 - 05:26 |
| 5 July | 1:30 AM | Sunset at Landing Site | 05:30 |
| 5 July | 1:30 - 2:00 AM | Ramp Deploy Image Available? | 05:30 - 06:00 |
| 5 July | 3:00 - 4:00 AM | Rover on Mars, B&W 360 Pan Images Available? |
07:00 - 08:00 |
| 5 July | 5:20 - 5:50 PM | Downlink Session, Color Pan Image, Night Data |
21:20 - 21:50 |
If for any reason the high gain antenna cannot be deployed on schedule and the nominal itinerary cannot be followed after the first information is received at the ground, starting at about 22:00 UT (6:00 PM EDT) a backup, low-gain communications schedule will be used:
| Date (EDT) | Time (EDT) | Event | Time (UT) |
| 4 July | 6:06 - 7:51 PM | Low Gain Downlink Session B&W Engineering Images |
22:06 - 23:51 |
| 4 July | 11:44 PM | Deploy Rover Ramps | 03:44 (5 July) |
| 5 July | 5:20 - 5:50 PM | Low Gain Downlink Session Try High Gain Antenna |
21:20 - 21:50 |
At about 20:55 UT (4:55 PM EDT) the first carrier wave transmission should be received at the ground, and the first information at 21:09 (5:09 PM EDT). This session will last until 22:13 UT (6:13 PM EDT), during which time telemetry from all systems including the rover and preliminary atmospheric data from the descent will be transmitted. Checkouts and some preliminary images of the magnetic targets will be taken (but not sent back immediately) over the next few hours. If everything checks out during this session, the high-gain antenna deployment will begin, consisting of a camera search for the Sun and orientation of the antenna towards Earth. (If this cannot be done, a low gain contingency plan has been established, involving use of the low-gain antenna over the next two days to get the high-gain antenna properly oriented.)
A low resolution black and white engineering image of the rover, ramps, and part of the lander, airbags and terrain to determine the optimal direction to deploy the rover will be acquired, as will a higher resolution 3-color panoramic image of a lander petal and terrain. Both pictures will be transmitted during the first high-gain downlink at 23:00 - 24:00 UT (7 - 8 PM EDT); the b&w image should be available on-line about 1.5 hours after downlink and the color image about a half-hour after that. These images will be used to determine whether the rover ramps should be deployed. If it is judged safe, the rover ramp will be deployed at about 01:00 (5 July) UT, or 9 PM (4 July) EDT. An image will be taken of the deployed ramps and returned to Earth during the next downlink session from 02:00 to 03:00 UT (10 - 11 PM EDT). If the image shows a successful ramp deployment and an acceptable path for the rover, the rover will be deployed down one of the two ramps onto the surface of Mars at 04:00 UT (midnight EDT). Images of the rover will be acquired and downlinked on 5 July from 04:30 to 05:30 UT (12:30 - 1:30 AM EDT). A black and white 360 degree landing site panorama may also be returned. At 05:30 UT the sun sets at the landing site and the lander and rover will hibernate for the night. These images may be available on-line an hour or two after this. If the rover alpha-proton-X-ray spectrometer has been deployed it will run overnight. Communications will resume on 5 July at 21:20 (5:20 PM EDT).
Mars Pathfinder Entry and Landing Strategy Mars Pathfinder Landing Site
- description and images
NASA SELECT TV Schedule
- Coverage of Mars Pathfinder Events
Mars Pathfinder Page
- including images of the landing site
Mars Home Page
NSSDCA Planetary Page
Author/Curator: