MARSBUGS:  
The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter
Volume 5, Number 20, 10 September 1998.

Editors:

Dr. David Thomas, Department of Biological Sciences, University of 
Idaho, Moscow, ID, 83844-3051, USA.  Marsbugs@aol.com or 
davidt@uidaho.edu.

Dr. Julian Hiscox, Division of Molecular Biology, IAH Compton 
Laboratory, Berkshire, RG20 7NN, UK.  Julian.Hiscox@bbsrc.ac.uk

Marsbugs is published on a weekly to quarterly basis as warranted 
by the number of articles and announcements.  Copyright of this 
compilation exists with the editors, except for specific articles, 
in which instance copyright exists with the author/authors.  While 
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E-mail subscriptions are free, and may be obtained by contacting 
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The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a channel of 
information for scientists, educators and other persons interested 
in exobiology and related fields.  This newsletter is not intended 
to replace peer-reviewed journals, but to supplement them.  We, 
the editors, envision Marsbugs as a medium in which people can 
informally present ideas for investigation, questions about 
exobiology, and announcements of upcoming events.

Astrobiology is still a relatively young field, and new ideas may 
come out of the most unexpected places.  Subjects may include, but 
are not limited to:  exobiology and astrobiology (life on other 
planets), the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), 
ecopoeisis and terraformation, Earth from space, planetary 
biology, primordial evolution, space physiology, biological life 
support systems, and human habitation of space and other planets.
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CONTENTS

1)	LATEST LUNAR PROSPECTOR FINDINGS INDICATE LARGER AMOUNTS OF 
POLAR WATER ICE
NASA release 98-158

2)	NEW ANALYSES FROM LUNAR PROSPECTOR PUBLISHED
Los Alamos National Laboratory release

3)	UMASS MICROBIOLOGIST FOCUSES ON IRON-EATING BACTERIA--
FINDINGS HAVE IMPLICATIONS ON BEGINNING OF LIFE ON EARTH
University of Massachusetts-Amherst release

4)	NASA ACCEPTS "KEYS" TO FIRST U.S.-BUILT STATION COMPONENT
NASA release 98-160

5)	SCIENTIFIC BALLOON LANDED TODAY
CSA release

6)	NEW MARS SURVEYOR 98 MAILING LIST
By Ron Baalke

7)	1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT
By John McNamee

8)	MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT OVERVIEW
By the Mars Surveyor operations project manager
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LATEST LUNAR PROSPECTOR FINDINGS INDICATE LARGER AMOUNTS OF POLAR 
WATER ICE
NASA release 98-158

3 September 1998

The north and south poles of the Moon may contain up to six 
billion metric tons of water ice, a more than ten-fold increase 
over previous estimates, according to scientists working with data 
from NASA's Lunar Prospector mission.  Growing evidence now 
suggests that water ice deposits of relatively high concentration 
are trapped beneath the soil in the permanently shadowed craters 
of both lunar polar regions.  The researchers believe that 
alternative explanations, such as concentrations of hydrogen from 
the solar wind, are unlikely.

Mission scientists also report the detection of strong, localized 
magnetic fields; delineation of new mass concentrations on the 
surface; and the mapping of the global distribution of major rock 
types, key resources and trace elements.  In addition, there are 
strong suggestions that the Moon has a small, iron-rich core.  The 
new findings are published in the September 4 issue of Science 
magazine.

"The Apollo program gave us an excellent picture of the Moon's 
basic structure and its regional composition, along with some 
hints about its origin and evolution," said Dr. Carl Pilcher, 
science director for Solar System exploration in NASA's Office of 
Space Science, Washington, DC.  "Lunar Prospector is now expanding 
that knowledge into a global perspective.  The indications of 
water ice at the poles are tantalizing and likely to spark 
spirited debate among lunar scientists."

In March, mission scientists reported a water signal with a 
minimum abundance of one percent by weight of water ice in rocky 
lunar soil (regolith) corresponding to an estimated total of 300 
million metric tons of ice at the Moon's poles.  "We based those 
earlier, conscientiously conservative estimates on graphs of 
neutron spectrometer data, which showed distinctive dips over the 
lunar polar regions," said Dr. Alan Binder of the Lunar Research 
Institute, Gilroy, CA, the Lunar Prospector principal 
investigator.  "This indicated significant hydrogen enrichment, a 
telltale signature of the presence of water ice.

"Subsequent analysis, combined with improved lunar models, shows 
conclusively that there is hydrogen at the Moon's poles," Binder 
said.  "Though other explanations are possible, we interpret the 
data to mean that significant quantities of water ice are located 
in permanently shadowed craters in both lunar polar regions.

"The data do not tell us definitively the form of the water ice," 
Binder added.  "However, if the main source is cometary impacts, 
as most scientists believe, our expectation is that we have areas 
at both poles with layers of near-pure water ice." In fact, the 
new analysis "indicates the presence of discrete, confined, near-
pure water ice deposits buried beneath as much as 18 inches (40 
centimeters) of dry regolith, with the water signature being 15 
percent stronger at the Moon's north pole than at the south."

How much water do scientists believe they have found?  "It is 
difficult to develop a numerical estimate," said Dr. William 
Feldman, co-investigator and spectrometer specialist at the 
Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM.  
"However, we calculate that each polar region may contain as much 
as three billion metric tons of water ice."

Feldman noted he had cautioned that earlier estimates "could be 
off by a factor of ten," due to the inadequacy of existing lunar 
models.  The new estimate is well within reason, he added, since 
it is still "one to two orders of magnitude less than the amount 
of water predicted as possibly delivered to, and retained on, the 
Moon by comets," according to earlier projections by Dr. Jim 
Arnold of the University of California at San Diego.

In other results, data from Lunar Prospector's gamma ray 
spectrometer have been used to develop the first global maps of 
the Moon's elemental composition.  The maps delineate large 
compositional variations of thorium, potassium and iron over the 
lunar surface, providing insights into the Moon's crust as it was 
formed.  The distribution of thorium and potassium on the Moon's 
near side supports the idea that some portion of materials rich in 
these trace elements was scattered over a large area as a result 
of ejection by asteroid and comet impacts.

While its magnetic field is relatively weak and not global in 
nature like those of most planets, the Moon does contain 
magnetized rocks on its upper surface, according to data from 
Lunar Prospector's magnetometer and electron reflectometer.  The 
resultant strong, local magnetic fields create the two smallest 
known magnetospheres in the Solar System.

"The Moon was previously interpreted as just an unmagnetized body 
without a major effect on what is going on in the solar wind," 
explained Dr. Mario Acuna, a member of the team located at NASA's 
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.  "We are discovering 
that there is nothing simple about the Moon as an obstacle to this 
continuous flow of electrically charged gas from the Sun."

These mini-magnetospheres are located diametrically opposite to 
large impact basins on the lunar surface, leading scientists to 
conclude that the magnetic regions formed as the result of these 
titanic impacts.  One theory is that these impacts produced a 
cloud of electrically charged gas that expanded around the Moon in 
about five minutes, compressing and amplifying the pre-existing, 
primitive ambient magnetic field on the opposite side.  This field 
was then "frozen" into the surface crust and retained as the 
Moon's then-molten core solidified and the global field vanished.

Using data from Prospector's doppler gravity experiment, 
scientists have developed the first precise gravity map of the 
entire lunar surface.  In the process, they have discovered seven 
previously unknown mass concentrations, lava-filled craters on the 
lunar surface known to cause gravitational anomalies.  Three are 
located on the Moon's near side and four on its far side.  This 
new, high-quality information will help engineers determine the 
long-term, altitude-related behavior of lunar-orbiting spacecraft, 
and more accurately assess fuel needs for possible future Moon 
missions.

Finally, Lunar Prospector data suggests that the Moon has a small, 
iron-rich core approximately 186 miles (300 kilometers) in radius, 
which is toward the smaller end of the range predicted by most 
current theories.  "This theory seems to best fit the available 
data and models, but it is not a unique fit," cautioned Binder.  
"We will be able to say much more about this when we get magnetic 
data related to core size later in the mission." Ultimately, a 
precise figure for the core size will help constrain models of how 
the Moon originally formed.

Lunar Prospector was launched on January 6, 1998, aboard a 
Lockheed Martin Athena 2 solid-fuel rocket and entered lunar orbit 
on January 11.  After a one-year primary mission orbiting the Moon 
at a height of approximately 63 miles (100 kilometers), mission 
controllers plan to the lower the spacecraft's orbit substantially 
to obtain detailed measurements.  The $63 million mission is 
managed by NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA.

Further information about Lunar Prospector, its science data 
return, and relevant charts and graphics can be found on the 
project website at http://lunar.arc.nasa.gov
------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW ANALYSES FROM LUNAR PROSPECTOR PUBLISHED
Los Alamos National Laboratory release

4 September 1998

Refined calculations of lunar water amounts and unique lunar 
compositional maps appeared today in the journal Science as part 
of the first publications of detailed analyses of data returned 
from NASA's Lunar Prospector mission.  Scientists from the U.S. 
Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory are lead 
authors on four of the papers in Science, with significant 
contributions from the Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees in Toulouse, 
France.  Los Alamos built three of Lunar Prospector's five onboard 
instruments.

Refined calculations of lunar water amounts are tenfold higher 
than the lower limit--based on preliminary, conservative 
estimates--released in March.  The additional analysis also shows 
the water is likely confined to localized areas near the poles, 
rather than spread out evenly across the polar regions, as was 
assumed in making the earlier estimates.  Water amounts, inferred 
from measurements of hydrogen in the lunar soil, are of great 
interest because of their potential impact on plans for 
colonization.

Compositional measurements show that the well-known impact basin 
Mare Imbrium--one of the large, dark areas visible in the full 
moon--is unlike any other spot on the moon, which theories of 
lunar evolution will have to account for.  "This mission has been 
an overwhelming success," said Los Alamos' Bill Feldman "We've 
gotten beautiful science from two of our three instruments.  The 
third, we just haven't had time to analyze the data yet."

"These data will generate ripples that will spread throughout the 
planetary science community," said Rick Elphic.  "We're barely 
scratching the surface of the analysis; we haven't begun to touch 
on the many ramifications for the origin and evolution of the 
moon."

The Los Alamos papers describe:

* The first application of neutron spectroscopy to planetary 
exploration, used on Lunar Prospector principally to look for the 
presence of water, but showing unexpected value for studying lunar 
composition as well;

* The first mapping of the entire lunar surface in gamma rays, 
which reveals compositional variations across the surface;

* And a comparison between Lunar Prospector neutron measurements 
and spectroscopic data from the Clementine spacecraft, which 
orbited the moon in 1994.

Los Alamos scientists built Lunar Prospector's neutron 
spectrometer, gamma ray spectrometer and alpha particle 
spectrometer.  Spectrometers measure the numbers and energies of 
particles or photons encountered.  Data from the neutron and gamma 
ray spectrometers figure into the Science papers; the alpha 
particle data are yet to be analyzed.

Neutrons and gamma rays emanate from the moon's surface as a 
result of cosmic rays--high-energy particles traveling through 
space in all directions--striking nuclei in the lunar soil.  When 
a cosmic ray hits a nucleus it can eject neutron particles or 
high-energy gamma ray photons in response.  Some of the neutrons 
and gamma rays travel upward where instruments aboard Lunar 
Prospector intercept them.

"The gamma ray measurements are ideal for spotting elements 
incorporated into materials that formed below the moon's crust," 
said Los Alamos' David Lawrence.  The moon once was hot and molten 
and as it cooled minerals crystallized and sank to form the core, 
if they were heavy, or floated upward to form the crust, if they 
were light.  The last material to solidify contained thorium, 
potassium, gadolinium and samarium, which do not readily 
incorporate into minerals.  These elements are signatures of the 
moon's subsurface mantle region, and their presence on the surface 
indicates some process--volcanic events or impacts strong enough 
to punch through the crust--must have dredged them up from the 
interior.  "Studies of these materials provides us a window into 
the moon's interior," Elphic said.

Thorium and potassium create standout gamma-ray signals, and their 
emissions neatly trace out Mare Imbrium's outer rim.  Lawrence 
said this signal "provides a telltale sign of deposition by 
ejecta.  This indicates that around Mare Imbrium the dredge-up 
process, at least in part, was related to an impact."

A different compositional story appears at the South-Pole Aitkin 
basin, the largest impact crater in the solar system and, 
therefore, presumably from an event strong enough to poke through 
the lunar crust.  Although the Aitken basin region shows enhanced 
gamma ray emissions from thorium, it is not nearly as bright as 
Mare Imbrium.  The impact event apparently dredged up much less 
potassium- and thorium-rich materials than at Mare Imbrium.  For 
an independent look at the distribution of dredged-up lunar 
mantle, the Los Alamos scientists compared their neutron 
spectrometer data with Clementine data.

"You can see compositional variations with neutrons in ways people 
had not realized previously," Lawrence said.  "We've obtained far 
more composition information from the neutron data than we 
expected we would."

The elemental makeup of the lunar soil affects the energies of 
neutrons emanating from it.  Over regions rich in iron and 
titanium, for example, Lunar Prospector will encounter an 
abundance of fast-moving neutrons and a deficit of slow ones.  
Other elements don't produce as many energetic neutrons yet don't 
absorb slow ones efficiently, leading to enhanced numbers of 
these.  By looking at the relative numbers of neutrons of 
different energies scientists can determine what elements are in 
the lunar soil.

Gadolinium and samarium, key indicators of material from the 
moon's interior, interact very efficiently with slow neutrons.  
They can appear in small concentrations in the soil yet have a 
large impact on the low-energy neutron emissions.  By comparing 
their neutron measurements against Clementine's data for iron and 
titanium, the Los Alamos scientists found a large residual signal 
around Mare Imbrium they attribute to the presence of gadolinium 
and samarium.  This signal did not appear in other locations where 
scientists would expect to see subsurface material dredged up.

"Something special happened around Imbrium; you don't see this 
sort of chemistry anywhere else on the moon," Elphic said.  "It 
also confirms that the moon is very inhomogeneous--at least for 
these elements.  These data are going to be fairly restricting to 
theorists:  whatever happened did not happen all over the moon, 
just in this one spot." Another element that provides a unique 
signature in the neutron measurements is hydrogen.  Scientists 
think hydrogen is most likely bound up in water molecules in the 
lunar soil, trapped frozen in regions of craters near the poles 
that never see direct sunlight.  "The data show clearly where the 
hydrogen is," Feldman said.  "It's localized in spots near the 
poles, and it has to be buried, about half a meter or so.

"In making our initial estimates, we assumed the water was spread 
over the 'footprint' of the instrument," Feldman said, which is 
how much surface area the instrument can detect at any moment, a 
square approximately 120 miles on a side at Lunar Prospector's 
current altitude.  "As we've gotten more data we've found that 
it's not spread out as we first assumed, but concentrated."

When they presented their initial results in March, the scientists 
said the water was likely in the form of a fine frost spread 
through the lunar soil.  Further data analysis now allows the 
possibility of deposits of solid ice, Feldman said.  Feldman 
currently estimates there may be as much as three billion metric 
tons of water ice at each of the poles, with 15 percent more at 
the north pole than at the south pole.  Scientists assume comets 
carry the water ice to the moon.  The comets basically vaporize on 
impact, and the water molecules migrate to the permanently shaded 
regions at the poles.  These regions are so cold that once a water 
molecule enters them it gets stuck.

Lunar Prospector, part of NASA's Discovery Program of low-cost, 
fast-track space missions, was launched in January and its first 
scientific results were announced in March.  Alan Binder of the 
Lunar Research Institute is the principal investigator for the 
mission.  The University of California operates Los Alamos 
National Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy.

[NOTE:  Full texts of the technical papers in Science are 
available for free access at 
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/current/]
------------------------------------------------------------------

UMASS MICROBIOLOGIST FOCUSES ON IRON-EATING BACTERIA--FINDINGS 
HAVE IMPLICATIONS ON BEGINNING OF LIFE ON EARTH
University of Massachusetts-Amherst release

2 September 1998

University of Massachusetts microbiologist Derek Lovley has made a 
discovery that opens a window to understanding how life began on 
Earth.  Lovley has determined that certain kinds of 
microorganisms, which live several miles below ground, can use 
iron to metabolize their food.  The findings are reported in the 
September 3 issue of the journal Nature, and will be featured in 
an upcoming segment of the television show "Discover Magazine," on 
the Discovery Channel.

Lovley, head of the microbiology department, studies unusual forms 
of anaerobic microorganisms:  in other words, bacteria that 
transform their food into energy without using oxygen.  "The 
research helps us to understand life on Earth a little bit 
better," Lovley said, "but it also has a practical side." His 
previous research has demonstrated that microorganisms that can 
grow on iron can be used in treating contaminated groundwater.  
The microorganisms use petroleum contaminants, such as benzene, as 
food, and literally eat away at contamination.  These organisms 
can also remove toxic metals such as uranium and chromium from 
contaminated waters.  His most recent findings focus on 
"hyperthermophiles"--literally, those who love hot temperatures.  
Hyperthermophiles are the organisms most closely related to early 
forms of life, from which modern bacteria, plants, and animals 
have descended, Lovley said.

It was previously believed that some of the first microorganisms 
used sulfur to grow.  But geologists noted that sulfur did not 
exist in the proper form on early Earth.  There was, however, 
abundant iron, so Lovley set about determining whether iron could 
serve as an energy source for these early bacteria.  "You can't go 
back three billion years, but you can study these 
hyperthermophiles, which are the modern organisms most closely 
related to early life," said Lovley.

Studying seven species of hyperthermophiles, he determined that 
every single one could use iron to metabolize its food.  This 
lends weight to the theory that iron was essential for the growth 
of early life on Earth, according to Lovley.  One type of 
hyperthermophile in particular, Thermotoga, used iron in a very 
central way, and sulfur in a very trivial way, suggesting that 
iron was more central to the metabolism of early organisms than 
sulfur.  All of the hyperthermophiles converted iron oxide to the 
magnetic mineral, magnetite, during their growth on iron.  This is 
significant because geologists have found large accumulations of 
magnetite on early Earth.  Furthermore, magnetite found deep below 
the Earth's surface and in a Martian meteorite has been thought to 
provide evidence for the possibility of life existing in these 
extreme environments.

Derek Lovley may be reached at 413/545-9651 or 
dlovley@microbio.umass.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------

NASA ACCEPTS "KEYS" TO FIRST U.S.-BUILT STATION COMPONENT
NASA release 98-160

4 September 1998

The Unity connecting module, the first U.S.-built component of the 
International Space Station, moved a step closer to orbit this 
week when Boeing, the manufacturer of Unity, officially handed 
over the module's "keys" to NASA.  NASA officially accepted the 
module after review and certification of Unity's construction by 
NASA and Boeing station managers at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, 
FL.  Unity is scheduled for launch aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour 
on the STS-88 mission on Dec.  3.  Unity will be launched two 
weeks after the first station component, the U.S.-funded, Russian-
built Zarya module, from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakstan.  
Unity will be mated to Zarya by Endeavour's astronauts to begin 
the five-year orbital assembly of the International Space Station.  
Unity is a critical component of the International Space Station, 
a six-sided connector with a berthing port on each side.  Along 
with Unity at Kennedy, more than a half-dozen major pieces of U.S.  
and foreign-built hardware are now being prepared for launch.

"It is not by chance that we named this module Unity," 
International Space Station program manager Randy Brinkley said 
following the review.  "The name certainly represents all of the 
hard work by the Boeing teams and the NASA teams, as well as the 
worldwide space station team.  The Unity module has been a great 
joint effort."

Unity was manufactured by Boeing at NASA's Marshall Space Flight 
Center in Huntsville, AL.  It was transported from Alabama to 
Florida in June 1997, where final assembly and launch preparations 
began.  Attached to Unity for launch are two conical mating 
adapters, also built by Boeing and officially accepted by NASA 
this week.  As the Unity acceptance review board completed its 
official work, Royce Mitchell, Boeing's ISS deputy program 
manager, handed his NASA counterparts plaques bearing a replica of 
a tool used to open the hatches on Unity and a symbolic "key" to 
the module.

The International Space Station draws upon the resources and 
expertise of 16 nations and is the largest and most complex 
international scientific project ever undertaken.  Five 
international partners--the United States; Canada; member states 
of the European Space Agency; Japan and Russia; as well as Brazil 
and Italy as participants through the United States--are working 
together in a joint endeavor to explore space for the benefit of 
all humankind.
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SCIENTIFIC BALLOON LANDED TODAY
CSA release

2 September 1998

The MANTRA (Middle Atmosphere Nitrogen Trend Assessment) research 
balloon launched by the Canadian Space Agency and Environment 
Canada on August 24, landed today at 13:56 (UTC) on Mariehamn 
Island in Finland.  The MANTRA project is a collaborative effort 
led by the Canadian Space Agency and Environment Canada, in 
partnership with Canadian and American universities and industry.  
The balloon experiment is part of the research conducted to study 
changes in atmospheric composition that have occurred over the 
last 15 to 20 years and will contribute to settling major issues 
about the thinning of the Earth's ozone layer.  The balloon, as 
tall as a 25-storey building and made of transparent polyethylene 
as thin as sandwich wrap, carried a package of instruments up to 
the top of the atmosphere where ozone chemistry can be measured 
directly.  All data was successfully transmitted by the 
instruments to a ground station between August 24 and August 25.

The instruments are used to measure the characteristics of 
sunlight after passing through the atmosphere and from that 
determining the abundance of ozone depleting chemicals in the 
stratosphere.  The most important data are acquired during sunset 
and sunrise.  The scientists are now analyzing these data.  About 
half of the observed ozone loss in the atmosphere can be 
definitely attributed to known human-made ozone-depleting 
chemicals; whether the remaining half is caused by these chemicals 
or other factors is not yet known.  Data collected during the 
balloon's flight will be used in models that simulate atmospheric 
chemistry.  The results, once known, will help to make our 
understanding of global ozone depletion more precise.

This study will help researchers determine the effectiveness of 
measures to reduce ozone-depleting chemicals undertaken since the 
Montreal Protocol, a global agreement to protect the ozone layer.  
This environmental treaty, initiated in 1987 and since signed by 
over 160 countries, used scientific research to set limits for the 
worldwide production of ozone-depleting substances to ensure that 
ozone levels return to normal and do not become threatened again 
in the future.

The Government of Canada is working with the international 
scientific community to determine the extent and causes of 
atmospheric changes that threaten human health and safety.  Sound 
scientific data is essential to finding effective solutions to 
problems such as depletion of the ozone layer and climate change.  
Environment Canada's studies of the ozone layer, which began in 
the 1930s, support a worldwide research and atmospheric monitoring 
program.  Through the leadership of the Canadian Space Agency, 
Canada is also involved in research studying the ozone layer from 
space.
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NEW MARS SURVEYOR 98 MAILING LIST
By Ron Baalke, Mars Surveyor 98 webmaster

Mars Surveyor 98 Mailing List

The Mars Surveyor 98 status reports and press releases are now 
available via email (subscription instructions appended below).  
Join us on our journey to Mars, both in orbit around the red 
planet and also from the surface of the red planet.  Following in 
the footsteps of Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder, the two 
Mars Surveyor 98 spacecraft will take advantage of the 1998 launch 
opportunity to Mars which is available every 26 months.

The "Volatiles and Climate History" theme for the 1998 Mars 
Surveyor missions was recommended by the Mars Science Working 
Group and is aligned directly with NASA's Mars exploration 
strategy for the next decade focusing on:  Evidence of past or 
present life, Climate, and Resources.

Mars Climate Orbiter

The 1998 orbiter mission (Mars Climate Orbiter) is scheduled for 
launch in December 1998 and will arrive in orbit around Mars in 
September 1999.  The orbiter will carry a rebuilt version of the 
Mars Observer Pressure Modulated Infrared Radiometer (PMIRR) with 
Dr. Daniel McCleese of JPL as Principal Investigator, and the Mars 
Color Imaging (MARCI) system with Dr. Michael Malin, of Malin 
Space Science Systems (MSSS) as Principal Investigator.  PMIRR 
will observe the global distribution and time variation of 
temperature, pressure, dust, water vapor, and condensates in the 
Martian atmosphere.  MARCI will observe synoptically Martian 
atmospheric processes at global scale and study details of the 
interaction of the atmosphere with the surface at a variety of 
scales in both space and time.  In addition to the science 
payload, the orbiter spacecraft will provide an on-orbit data 
relay capability for future U.S.  and/or international surface 
stations.

Mars Polar Lander

For the first time ever, we will be landing in the polar regions 
of Mars with the Mars Polar Lander.  Scheduled for launch in 
January 1999, the spacecraft will land on Mars in December 1999.  
The science complement for the 1998 lander includes:  the Mars 
Volatile and Climate Surveyor (MVACS) integrated lander payload 
with Dr. David Paige of UCLA as Principal Investigator, the Mars 
Descent Imager (MARDI) with Dr. Michael Malin of Malin Space 
Science Systems as Principal Investigator, and an atmospheric 
lidar experiment provided by the Russian Space Agency Institute 
for Space Science.  Dr. Paige's integrated lander payload includes 
a Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) with Mars Pathfinder heritage; a 
meteorology package (MET); an instrumented robotic arm (RA) for 
sample acquisition, soil manipulation, and close up imaging of the 
surface and subsurface; and the Thermal and Evolved Gas Analysis 
(TEGA) experiment for determining the nature and abundance of 
volatile material in the Martian soil.  The descent images 
obtained by MARDI while the lander spacecraft descends to the 
surface will establish the geological and physical context of the 
landing site.  The atmospheric lidar experiment will determine the 
dust content of the Martian atmosphere above the landing site.

Deep Space 2 Microprobes

Piggybacking on the Mars 98 lander are two small microprobes.
Separating from the lander just prior to entry into the Martian 
atmosphere, the two microprobes will slam into the surface of Mars 
at a velocity of 200 meters per second.  The aeroshell on each 
probe will shatter to release the science package, which will 
penetrate up to 2 meters into the soil.  The microprobes will 
determine if water ice is present in the Martian subsurface, and 
will also measure the temperature and monitor the local Martian 
weather.

Subscribing to The Mars Surveyor 98 Mailing List

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Send email to majordomo@sender.jpl.nasa.gov and include the 
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------------------------------------------------------------------

1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT
By John McNamee, Mars Surveyor 98 project manager

4 September 1998

Mars Climate Orbiter:
Orbiter integration and test activities continue to proceed on 
schedule.  The dry spin balance (both in vacuum and in air) was 
conducted successfully on September 1.  The ground support 
equipment arrived at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Spacecraft 
Assembly and Encapsulation Facility (SAEF-2) on September 2 and 
all KSC activities are on track to support the orbiter arrival on 
September 10.

Mars Polar Lander:
The lander is in the cruise configuration (cruise stage, 
backshell, and heat shield installed) in the thermal vacuum 
chamber.  Chamber pump down began on September 1 and the cruise 
thermal vacuum testing is proceeding as planned with completion 
scheduled for September 5.  The lander pre-ship review is planned 
for September 15.  Shipment to KSC is planned for October 12.

For more information on the Mars Surveyor 98 mission, please visit 
our website at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/
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MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT OVERVIEW
By the Mars Surveyor operations project manager

4 September 1998

The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft continues to acquire 
science data with the Mars Orbiter Camera, the Thermal Emission 
Spectrometer and the Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer in its 
next to last week in the science phasing orbit.  Data was returned 
from the third Phobos observation.  A press release is anticipated 
on or about September 10th which will detail the results from the 
recent Phobos observations.  The first of the weekly strategic 
planning sessions for aerobraking phase 2 was held.  The MGS 
propulsion system will be re-pressurized next Wednesday to ready 
it for the major maneuvers required to return MGS to the martian 
atmosphere.

At the same time that it is flying MGS, the flight team is also 
preparing for the operational readiness testing that will validate 
its capabilities to operate the Mars Climate Orbiter and the Mars 
Polar Lander to be launch later this year.
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End Marsbugs Vol. 5, No. 20

