Mars Express Will Keep An Astute Eye On Phoenix

May 26th, that’s when the ESA’s Mars Express monitors the critical entry, descent, and landing onto the surface of Mars by the Phoenix. All major preparations for supporting this event have now been completed by the Mars Express mission control team for the EDL phase of NASA‘s Phoenix mission to the Red Plant. Mars Express will point towards Phoenix’s planned entry trajectory through use of the MELACOM (Mars Express Lander Communications) system and record signals broadcast from the lander as it races through the Martian atmosphere. This recording will serve as a useful and potentially crucial back-up to compare Phoenix’s planned and actual descent profiles. The landing itself is planned for 23:38 UTS, May 25th, or 01:38 CEST, May 26th. The Mars Express team will monitor the event from the Dedicated Control Room at ESOC.