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Mars Pathfinder Update - October 16, 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
                  October 16, 1997

     The Mars Pathfinder operations team is continuing its 
efforts to attempt to send commands to the Pathfinder lander 
while, at the same time, investigating possible scenarios to 
explain what might be occurring onboard the spacecraft. The last 
signal received from the spacecraft was on Sol 93, which was 
Tuesday, October 7, at 7:21 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time.

     There is no indication at this time that the spacecraft is 
no longer operating. The difficulty in communications is thought 
to be related to the degradation of the spacecraft battery. In 
the "no battery" mode of operations, the spacecraft cannot keep 
track of time accurately and will also be powered on for a 
smaller portion of each day.  As time progresses, spacecraft 
hardware will become colder.  In regular operations, by turning 
on the transmitter, the spacecraft hardware warms up sufficiently 
to operate normally.  It is possible that because the team has 
not been able to turn on the transmitter for long periods of time 
over several days that the spacecraft temperatures are colder 
than normal.  Those lower temperatures could cause the spacecraft 
hardware to operate differently than expected.

     In their attempts to communicate with the spacecraft 
recently, the operations team is focusing on both the non-
operational battery scenario and the colder temperatures at which 
the spacecraft is probably operating. They are also experimenting 
with the timing of their commands in the belief that the 
spacecraft may be waking up later than normal due to the faulty 
onboard clock.

     The team will continue its daily uplink sessions with Mars 
Pathfinder. Daily audio updates are available by calling 1-800-
391-6654. 

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