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Mars Pathfinder Update - July 5, 1997

PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov

            Mars Pathfinder Mission Status
                    July 5, 1997
           12:00 Noon Pacific Daylight Time

     After receiving hundreds of new images of a boulder-strewn 
outflow channel known as Ares Vallis, NASA's Mars Pathfinder 
flight team spent the rest of Sol 1 - the equivalent of one day 
on Mars - rearranging an airbag that was covering the edge of the 
rover's petal so that the hearty, 23-pound vehicle can safely 
roll off its ramp later this afternoon. 

     The rover team decided last night to conduct further airbag 
retraction after studying the first set of black-and-white images 
to be returned via Pathfinder's high-gain antenna. A new software 
sequence was prepared and tested prior to transmission at 7:08 
p.m. PDT. The command instructed the lander to pull the 
obstructed petal up about 45 degrees, further retract the airbag 
underneath the petal, then lay the petal down again. Data later 
in the evening indicated that the maneuver had been successful in 
clearing the airbag from the edge of the rover's petal. 

     Before Earth set on Mars at about 10:30 p.m. PDT, 
telecommunications engineers reported that Sojourner, which is 
programmed to communicate with the lander as frequently as every 
10 minutes, was not "completing full sentences" in its 
transmissions to the lander.  Dr. Jacob Matijevic, rover team 
leader, said at a 10 a.m. PDT press briefing today that the 
problem is most likely a software synchronization problem between 
the rover and lander. The team will conduct a brief 
communications session at 1 p.m. PDT to reset some of the modem 
parameters on the rover.  

     Meanwhile, the team was still waiting to learn if a set of 
commands set last night to deploy the second ramp and unlatch the 
rover had been carried out.  They expected confirmation one way 
or the other during the next high-gain antenna downlink session 
at 2:30 p.m. PDT today. Once the ramp has been unfurled, the 
rover will stand up to its full height of 1-foot tall and roll 
off the forward ramp. The rover team reported today that the 
front ramp appears to be the safest exit route with fewer rocks 
on the surface at the end of the ramp. Sojourner will not be 
deployed until about 7:40 p.m. and will spend about five minutes 
driving off its ramp.

     Scientists spent several hours last night comparing the 
landing site to Viking images of the region. Dr. Peter Smith, 
principal investigator on the lander camera team, said the lander 
is about 20 miles south of a large mountain peak and within about 
3 to 4 kilometers (1.8 to 2.4 miles) northwest of the rim of a 
crater believed to be at least several miles in diameter. Dr. 
Matthew Golombek, the Mars Pathfinder project scientist, added 
that two rocks in the immediate vicinity of the lander, had been 
singled out as the first targets for the rover's travels, based 
on their varying colors and shapes, which may suggest different 
origins and compositions.

     Earth rise over Mars - which brings Earth into the proper 
alignment for communications with the Pathfinder lander and rover 
- began at 10:08 a.m. PDT today. The operations team has about 11 
hours in which to conduct surface operations during this second 
day of Mars exploration.  A press briefing to update the day's 
events will be held at 5 p.m. PDT and a final, wrap-up briefing 
will be held at 9 p.m. PDT. Both will be carried on NASA TV, 
which is available on GE-2, transponder 9C at 85 degrees west 
longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MGz 
and audio of 6.8 MHz. 

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