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MSL - EDL Timeline - Rev. 3

For a detailed Overview of MSL's EDL Sequence with all technical details, please visit our Landing Special.
This timeline was published on August 4, 2012 - before Entry, Descent & Landing.
Refer to our EDL Reconstruction Site for post-landing analysis.

Key Events Timeline UTC: Click Here
Key Events Timeline EDT: Click Here
Key Events Timeline PDT: Click Here
Key Events Timeline CET: Click Here

       

Detailed EDL Timeline

	Pre-Entry
EI +/-	Event	UTC	ERT	Range	Velocity
-02:00:00	Final EDL Navigation Update	03:10	03:23	~30,500km	~3,916m/s
~-01:24:00	MSL 'crosses' Orbit of Deimos	~03:46	03:59	~22,400km	~4,056m/s
~-00:33:00	MSL 'crosses' Orbit of Phobos	~04:37	04:50	~10,300km	~4,556m/s
-13:30	HRS Propellant Vent	04:57:17	05:11:05	~4,850km	~5,083m/s
	Duration: 3 Minutes
	Exo-Atmospheric Entry
EI +/-	Event	UTC	ERT	CSS +/-	Altitude	Distance	Velocity
-10:00	Cruise Stage Separation	05:00:47	05:14:35	00:00	~1,860km	~3,940km	~5,111m/s
-09:30	Transition to EDL Communications:	05:01:17	05:15:05	+00:30	~1,770km	~3,800km	~5,139m/s
	X-Band: Tones
	UHF: 8kbps (Bent-Pipe Relay via Odyssey)
-09:00	Descent Stage Reaction Control System Enable	05:01:47	05:15:35	+01:00	~1,660km	~3,650km	~5,167m/s
	De-Spin from 2rpm
	Maneuver to Entry Attitude
	Total Maneuver Duration: 3min 6sec
-05:49	Entry Guidance Enable	05:05:17	05:19:05	+04:11	~1,010km	~2,640km	~5,389m/s
	Achieve Center of Gravity Offset
	(Jettison 2 Tungsten Weights)
	Maneuver Duration: 30 Seconds
-05:19	Quiescent Period	05:05:47	05:19:35	+04:41	~922km	~2,480km	~5,445m/s
	Inertial Measurement Unit Calibration
	Atmospheric Entry
EI +/-	Event	UTC	ERT	Altitude	Distance	Velocity
00:00	ENTRY INTERFACE	05:10:46	05:24:34	~125km	~677km	~5,834m/s
	Pressurize Propulsion System
+00:39	Guided Entry Phases:	05:11:25	05:15:13	~77.3km	~449km	~5,860m/s
	Pre-Bank (Initiation at 0.1G)
	Range Control Phase (Initiation at 0.5G)
	Heading Alignment (Initiation at 900m/s)
+01:25	Peak Heating - 2,100°C	05:12:11	05:25:59	~25.2km	~197km	~3,972m/s
+01:36	Peak Deceleration - Up to 12.9 G	05:12:22	05:26:10	~20.6km	~160km	~2,839m/s
+03:00	Hypersonic Aero-Maneuvering	05:13:27	05:27:15	~18.0km	~52.2km	~706m/s
+03:50	Eliminate Center Of Gravity Offset	05:14:17	05:28:05	~15.3km	~25.1km	~489m/s
	Jettison 6 Inner Weights
	Damp CG-Offset Elimination Transients
	Supersonic Parachute Descent
EI +/-	Event	UTC	ERT	Altitude	Distance	Velocity
+04:05	Parachute Deployment	05:14:51	05:28:39	~11.5km	13.4km	~430m/s
	PD Uncertainty: 10-20 Seconds
	Reaction Control System Disabled for PD
	Wrist Control Mode Initiation: Active RCS
+04:34	Heatshield Separation	05:15:20	05:29:08	~9.60km	~10.0km	~238m/s
	Terminal Descent Sensor Activation
+04:42	Begin Using Landing Radar Solutions - HSS+8sec	05:15:28	05:29:16	~9.45km	~9.90km	~180m/s
+05:11	Earth Occultation: Tones unavailable - HSS+37sec	05:15:57	05:29:45	~7.04km	~7.10km	~145m/s
+05:35	Prime Mars Landing Engines - BSS-10sec	05:16:21	05:30:09
	Powered Descent
~EI +/-	Event	UTC	ERT	BSS +/-	Altitude	Velocity
+05:45	Backshell Separation	05:16:31	05:30:19	00:00	1.6 - 2.0 km	120m/s
	Time Under Parachute: 55-170sec
	Mars Landing Engines at 1%
+05:45.8	Mars Landing Engines at 20%	05:16:31.8	05:30:19.9	+00:00.8
+05:46	Mars Landing Engines at Full Throttle	05:16:32	05:30:20	+00:01
+05:46.2	Attitude Control Only	05:16:32.2	05:30:20.2	+00:01.2
	Setup Turn Start
+05:48.4	Powered Approach	05:16:34.4	05:30:22.4	+00:03.4	~1,620m	~125m/s
	Reduce Horizontal Velocity to 0m/s
	Reduce Vertical Velocity to 20m/s
+06:20	Constant Velocity Accordion	05:17:06	05:30:54	+00:35	105m	20m/s
	Duration: 0-5 Seconds
+06:22.5	Constant Deceleration to 0.75m/s	05:17:08.5	05:30:56.5	+00:37.5	55m	20m/s
+06:25	Throttle down to 4 Mars Landing Engines	05:17:11	05:30:59	+00:40	21m	0.75m/s
	Sky Crane
~EI +/-	Event	UTC	ERT	RS +/-	Rover Alt.	Velocity
+06:28	Rover Separation	05:17:14	05:31:02	00:00	18.6m	0.75m/s
	Deploy Front Rocker					1.82m/s
+06:31	Mobility Deploy	05:17:17	05:31:05	+00:03.0	<12.0m	1.82m/s
+06:33.5	Release Bogie	05:17:19.5	05:31:07.5	+00:05.5		1.82m/s
+06:35	Snatch	05:17:21	05:31:09	+00:07.0	<8.8m	0.75m/s
+06:37	Enable Touchdown Logic	05:17:23	05:31:11	+00:09.0	<3.0m	0.75m/s
	Differential Release					0.75m/s
+06:39	Touchdown	05:17:25	05:31:13	>+00:11		0.00m/s
	Total EDL Duration (From EI to TD): 380-460sec
	Fly Away
TD +/-	Event	UTC	ERT
00:00	Touchdown	05:17:25	05:31:13
	August 6, 2012 - 5:31 GMT (Earth Receive Time)
+00:01.7	All Wheels Down/Bridle Offload	05:17:27	05:31:15
+00:02.7	Touchdown Detection	05:17:28	05:31:16
	Descent Stage Decel
	Bridle Cut Command
+00:02.96	Bridle Cut	05:17:28	05:31:16
+00:03.172	Umbilical Cord Cut Command	05:17:28	05:31:16
+00:03.187	Umbilical Cord Cut
	Throttle Up
	Fly Away Initiation
	Fly Away Duration: Min: 4.0 Seconds
00:07:187	Earliest Cutoff Time	05:17:32	05:31:20
	Descent Stage Impact

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