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All times Pacific Standard Time (PST)

Friday, December 3

    2 - 6 a.m.:
      "Live Shot" satellite TV interviews.

    9 a.m.:

      News briefing with short daily status with a preview of the day's events. This would also report on the on the optional Trajectory Correction Maneuver #5 (TCM-5), which could take place if required at about 4 a.m. Friday.

    11 a.m. - 2 p.m.:

      Commentated TV feed.

    12:14 p.m.:

      LANDING (Earth-received time)

    12:37 p.m.:
      FIRST SIGNAL FROM THE LANDER

        Landing initiates the first Martian day of the mission, or sol "0."

        Immediately after touchdown, the spacecraft deploys its solar panels and carries out other activities to secure itself and prepare for later operations.

        The spacecraft will transmit for approximately 45 minutes, sending information on the health and engineering state of the lander and events during entry, descent, and landing.

        Following this session, the lander will power down and "sleep" for about six hours to recharge its battery.

    2 p.m.:

      News briefing with first results from landing.

    3 - 6 p.m.:

      "Live Shot" satellite TV interviews.

    3 - 8 p.m.: No news briefings/activities or Mars TV programming

    8 - 11 p.m.:

      Commentated TV feed.

        At about 7:30 p.m., the Deep Space 2 microprobes will begin sending data to Mars Global Surveyor. These data will be received on Earth by about 9:30 p.m. Commands will be sent to the microprobes via Mars Global Surveyor to conduct their soil tests, the results of which will be received during a pass beginning at about 9:30 p.m. If the microprobes are unable to receive commands from Mars Global Surveyor, they would wait until landing plus 29 and 32 hours, respectively, and then transmit data.

        At about 8:30 p.m., the lander will begin transmitting to Earth for approximately 2 1/4 hours. Flight controllers will select the highest data rate they believe they can acheive reliably.

        By about 11 p.m., the lander will shut down for the day. During the ensuing arctic "night," the lander will "wake up" a total of four times to take a few pictures and measure air temperature and pressure. No data will be transmitted to Earth during the night.

    12 midnight:

      News briefing with pictures and other data from the lander's evening transmission session; initial results from Deep Space 2.