Three roboticpaparazzi orbiting the planet Mars are adjusting their flight paths to track anincoming NASA probe due to land on the red planet in late May.
The planmarks the first time that three orbiters will follow a landing on Mars and isexpected to return an unprecedented level of coverage throughout the entry,descent, and landing of NASA?s Phoenix Mars Lander on May 25.
"Wewill have diagnostic information from the top of the atmosphere to the groundthat will give us insight into the landing sequence," said David Spencer,deputy project manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.? Such information would help deal with landing problems, and lead toimproved designs for future landers.
"Wehave been precisely managing the trajectory to position Odyssey overhead when Phoenixarrives, to ensure we are ready for communications," said Bob Mase, themission?s manager at JPL. "Without those adjustments, we would be almostexactly on the opposite side of the planet when Phoenix arrives."
NASA?s MROspacecraft will make bigger adjustments, with one firing of thrusters on Feb. 6and at least one more course correction planned in April. The European SpaceAgency's Mars Express orbiter, meanwhile, has also positioned itself to recordtransmissions from Phoenix during the landing.
MRO andMars Express will start recording Phoenix transmissionsas backup data "about 10 minutes before landing," according to BenJai, mission manager at JPL for MRO.
- VIDEO: NASA's Phoenix: Rising to the Red Planet
- VIDEO: Looking for Life in All the Right Places
- Top 10 Amazing Discoveries by NASA's Mars Rovers
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