Communication during Entry, descent and landing

During entry, descent, and landing (EDL), the spacecraft will encounter turbulent conditions like intense heating from friction by speeding into the atmosphere, jostling when the parachute deploys and bouncing during landing on the surface of the planet. These conditions make it difficult to track the spacecraft during EDL. So there are some basic, individual radio tones that will sound during EDL. About 36 ten-second-radio tones will be transmitted to Earth during descent through the atmosphere, which takes approximately six minutes. These tones are coded to indicate the accomplishment of critical steps in the entry, descent and landing timeline.

These communications are done using a pair of low-gain antennas, one mounted on the back shell and the other on the rover itself.