Alignment of the planets permits launch opportunities between August 3 and August 24 to dispatch the Phoenix lander on its cruise from Earth to Mars. A pair of one-second launch windows are available each day, spaced more than 35 minutes apart, for the United Launch Alliance Delta 2 rocket to lift off.

Launching within a day's first instantaneous window would see the rocket fly a 93-degree flight azimuth trajectory from Cape Canaveral, while the second window would use a 99-degree azimuth. The half-hour hold between the two windows allows the launch team to load the rocket's flight computer with the new parameters.

All times in the chart below use Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

Date	Instant One 93-degree azimuth	Instant Two 99-degree azimuth
August 3	5:35:18 a.m.	6:11:24 a.m.
August 4	5:26:31 a.m.	6:02:55 a.m.
August 5	5:17:23 a.m.	5:53:59 a.m.
August 6	5:07:48 a.m.	5:44:32 a.m.
August 7	4:57:36 a.m.	5:34:29 a.m.
August 8	4:46:45 a.m.	5:23:52 a.m.
August 9	4:35:51 a.m.	5:12:57 a.m.
August 10	4:24:24 a.m.	5:01:38 a.m.
August 11	4:12:14 a.m.	4:49:39 a.m.
August 12	3:58:26 a.m.	4:36:55 a.m.
August 13	3:44:52 a.m.	4:23:21 a.m.
August 14	3:30:30 a.m.	4:08:51 a.m.
August 15	3:13:45 a.m.	3:53:18 a.m.
August 16	2:57:25 a.m.	3:36:33 a.m.
August 17	2:38:04 a.m.	3:18:22 a.m.
August 18	3:15:51 a.m.	3:54:59 a.m.
August 19	3:00:50 a.m.	3:39:36 a.m.
August 20	2:44:09 a.m.	3:23:08 a.m.
August 21	2:26:03 a.m.	3:05:22 a.m.
August 22	2:06:37 a.m.	2:46:03 a.m.
August 23	1:43:32 a.m.	2:24:47 a.m.
August 24	1:18:59 a.m.	2:01:02 a.m.

Data source: NASA