suzanne malveaux tells us what we think we know about it so far. >> reporter: from the moment malaysia flight 370 took off it was communicating with a satellite orbiting more than 22,000 miles above earth, sending out pings or electronic hand shakes to say "i'm here and okay." >> the ping is really like your cell phone checking that it's connected with a cell phone network. >> reporter: the first three recorded pings come between 12:30 and 1:00 a.m. local time as the plane takes off from kuala lumpur an ascends, all normal stuff. >> the first three pings are messages which are carrying the data about the performance of the engines on the plane. >> reporter: at 1:19, a.m., the co-pilot send his final message to air traffic "all right, good night." then the transponder, which identifies the plane to civilian radar, stops communicating. between 1:121 and 1:28, a.m., radar shows the plane makes a sharp left turn then dips as low