MARSBUGS:  
The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter
Volume 5, Number 24, 2 December 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 
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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)	NEW MARS PLAN TARGETS SAMPLE RETURN--INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO 
PAVE WAY FOR ROBOTIC COLONIES BY 2010
By Diane Ainsworth

2)	UCLA GEOCHEMIST'S FOSSIL METEORITE PROVIDES STRONG EVIDENCE 
THAT ASTEROID CAUSED MASS EXTINCTIONS 65 MILLION YEARS AGO
UCLA release

3)	LEONIDS SAMPLE RETURN PAYLOAD HAS BEEN FOUND--SCIENTISTS ARE 
EXAMINING THE AEROGEL "COMET-CATCHER" FOR TRACES OF LEONID 
METEOROIDS
From NASA Space Science News

4)	GALILEO EUROPA MISSION STATUS REPORTS
JPL releases

5)	MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT OVERVIEW
By the Mars Surveyor operations project manager

6)	1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORTS
By John McNamee
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NEW MARS PLAN TARGETS SAMPLE RETURN--INTERNATIONAL EFFORT TO PAVE 
WAY FOR ROBOTIC COLONIES BY 2010
By Diane Ainsworth
From the JPL Universe

13 November 1998

A new architectural blueprint for international robotic 
exploration of Mars, resulting in the return of several samples of 
Martian material to Earth by 2008 and founding of the first 
permanent robotic colonies by the end of that decade, has been 
launched by NASA and its international partners in space 
exploration.

"This plan paves the way for the return of as many as four samples 
of Martian material from four different sites by 2011, and will 
lead to the establishment of the first robotic outposts and, 
eventually, human colonies on Mars," said Norman Haynes, Mars 
Exploration Program director at JPL.

Under a new plan drafted by NASA and its French, Italian and 
European counterparts, the consortium of spacefaring nations will 
begin development of affordable spacecraft and innovative new 
technologies to obtain in-situ measurements and samples of Martian 
material in preparation for human exploration of the planet.  The 
plan calls for construction of a fleet of affordable launch 
vehicles, orbiters, landers, rovers and Mars ascent vehicles 
designed to wage an all-out effort to begin returning samples of 
the Martian regolith as early as April 2008.

"This plan lays out the whole framework for our next quantum leap 
in Mars exploration," said Dr. Charles Elachi, JPL's Space and 
Earth Sciences Program director and head of the architecture 
study.  "The establishment of the first permanent robotic colonies 
on Mars, capable of harnessing the planet's natural resources to 
build a technology base for space flight to and from the planet 
and biospheres for human settlements well within the lifetimes of 
our grandchildren, is the most exciting prospect awaiting us as a 
global community."

The new Mars architecture plan, which is currently being refined 
by NASA and participating space agencies, underscores the roles 
and responsibilities of the four space agencies in formulating an 
integrated, international roadmap for the exploration of Mars.  
According to Haynes, the study focuses on robotic surface 
activities during the early launch opportunities beginning in 2001 
through 2011.  Many of the early missions will focus on studies of 
the Martian surface involving science payloads designed to conduct 
chemical analyses of rocks and soils, obtain rock core samples and 
tap subsurface water reservoirs and other natural resources that 
could be used to manufacture propellants to fuel sample-return 
vehicles.

Work on the architectural redesign began in June.  Eight "tiger 
teams" of experts from the international scientific community, led 
by Elachi and Dr. Frank Jordan, manager of JPL's Mars Program 
Planning and Architecture Office, were formed to address issues of 
spacecraft design, innovative technologies and science goals for 
missions beginning in 2003, as well as for achieving the overall 
goals of the long-range Mars Surveyor Program.  Recommendations 
were presented to NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin on September 24 
and, subsequently, approved for implementation.

New requirements for the 2001 Mars missions, brought about earlier 
in the year by Congressional markups of the fiscal year 1999 NASA 
budget, prompted the redesign effort.  The Mars 2001 project went 
to work to hammer out a compromise of scientific instruments on 
the proposed orbiter, lander and rover to meet new budget and 
spacecraft mass requirements.  Under the current mission 
architecture, the Mars 2001 lander will be equipped with a robotic 
arm and descent camera to explore materials buried below the 
Martian surface.  The spacecraft will also carry a panoramic 
camera and mini-thermal emission spectrometer, which was part of 
the originally proposed payload, and a Moessbauer spectrometer 
designed to study Martian materials.

Three human exploration experiments developed under NASA's Human 
Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) Enterprise are also 
included in the lander payload:  the Mars Environmental 
Compatibility Assessment Project experiment, an instrument to 
investigate potentially hazardous atmospheric conditions that 
could affect human exploration; a Mars propellant production 
experiment to explore the feasibility of using atmospheric carbon 
dioxide to manufacture fuel for return vehicles; and a Mars 
radiation experiment to detect hazardous amounts of the substance 
in the Martian atmosphere.

In addition, a simpler, lighter-weight rover modeled after Mars 
sophisticated and costly roving vehicle.  The new rover, nicknamed 
Marie Curie, will carry an alpha proton X-ray spectrometer similar 
to the spectrometer carried on the Sojourner rover to study the 
chemical composition of rocks and surface soils and a second Mars 
radiation experiment to detect harmful levels of radiation on the 
Martian surface.

NASA will begin the series of sample-return mission in 2003, with 
launch of a lander and a rover that will spend several months 
searching for and collecting rock and soil samples, said Dr. 
Daniel McCleese, chief scientist and manager of the Office of 
Strategy and Science Programs for JPL's Mars Exploration 
Directorate.  The roving vehicle will return the sample to a new, 
low-cost, low-mass Mars ascent vehicle.

Conceived by Brian Wilcox of the JPL Mars Exploration Technology 
Development Division, the Mars ascent vehicle is the centerpiece 
of the program's overarching, short-term goal to explore the 
Martian subsurface robotically.  The vehicle is a simple rocket 
with a three-stage, spin-stabilized ascent system, solid-rocket 
motors, minimal onboard guidance and virtually no moving parts.  
The launcher, which weighs about 100 kilograms (220 pounds) or 
less than 30 percent of previous Mars ascent vehicle designs, will 
place soil and rock sample canisters into a low-Mars orbit, where 
they will await pick-up by orbiters arriving at Mars beginning in 
2005.

NASA will also provide a Boeing Delta 3-class launch vehicle and 
an Earth entry capsule comprised of a crescent-shaped heat shield 
and crushable foam material that will shield the Martian soil and 
rock samples when they plummet to the floor of a desert in Utah in 
spring 2008.

In partnership with the French space agency, Centre National 
d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), NASA will also work toward developing a 
small "microspacecraft" weighing less than 200 kilograms (440 
pounds) for delivery to Mars during this launch opportunity, 
Elachi said.  CNES has agreed in principle to providing a 
piggyback ride to Mars on its Ariane 5 launch vehicle, which is 
capable of placing the Martian microspacecraft on a geosynchronous 
transfer orbit above Earth.  If flown, the miniature spacecraft 
would use its own propulsion and gravity assists from the Moon and 
Earth to gain enough momentum to reach Mars.

Another collaborative arrangement with the Italian space agency, 
Agenzia Spatiale Italiana, will add a drill and other robotic 
elements to the 2003 Martian lander and those following in its 
footsteps.  Additional robotic elements will include radio relay 
equipment to support the European Space Agency's proposed Mars 
Express orbiter, which will be used for data transmission from 
landers arriving at Mars in future years.  The European Space 
Agency also plans to supply a sounding radar for the mission.  In 
2005, a single Ariane 5 launch vehicle carrying a duplicate of the 
2003 lander, rover, Mars ascent vehicle and French orbiter will be 
launched to Mars.  The lander, with its companion rover and ascent 
vehicle, will land at a different location, collect a second 
sample of Martian rocks and soils and loft it into low-Mars orbit.

The orbiter will be inserted into a highly elliptical Mars orbit, 
aerobrake to low-Mars orbit, rendezvous and dock with the 2003 
orbiting sample container and then rendezvous and dock with the 
2005 sample.  After 11 months in orbit, the spacecraft will fire 
its rocket engines to inject itself and the two Earth entry 
capsules on an Earth-return trajectory.  The orbiter will target 
the two entry capsules carrying Martian samples onto impact 
trajectories, deploy them and then deflect its own trajectory so 
that it does not crash into Earth.

Two options are currently on the table with NASA and the French 
space agency for inserting the 2005 orbiter into Mars orbit.  The 
first option would be to use propulsive maneuvers to lower and 
circularize the spacecraft's orbit.  The second option would be to 
use a technique called "aerocapture," which is similar to 
aerobraking but would slow and directly capture the spacecraft in 
orbit in one step, rather than gradually slowing and lowering the 
spacecraft through a series of "walk-in" phases used in the 
aerobraking strategy.  With aerocapture, the orbiter would be able 
to reach its final, circular mapping orbit within about one week 
instead of approximately nine months.

If international participation and the budgetary outlook remain 
stable, a total of six samples from six separate locations on the 
surface of Mars will have been returned by 2013, Haynes said.  To 
realize this scenario, another Delta 3-class launch vehicle would 
be used in 2007, carrying a lander, rover and Mars ascent vehicle.  
The samples collected would be cached on orbit to await pick-up by 
the 2009 orbiter.  In 2009, two launches using Delta 3-class 
launch vehicles would follow suit.  The orbiter would be the first 
vehicle to be launched, followed by a second lander, rover and 
Mars ascent vehicle.  A French orbiter would collect the Mars 
samples from both the 2007 and 2009 landers and deploy them on 
return trajectories to Earth.  If successful, that mission 
scenario would be repeated in 2011 and 2013.
------------------------------------------------------------------

UCLA GEOCHEMIST'S FOSSIL METEORITE PROVIDES STRONG EVIDENCE THAT 
ASTEROID CAUSED MASS EXTINCTIONS 65 MILLION YEARS AGO
UCLA release

18 November 1998

UCLA geochemist Frank T. Kyte has found a fossil meteorite 
believed to be from the huge asteroid that crashed to Earth 65 
million years ago--the probable cause of the extinction of the 
dinosaurs and many other species worldwide.  In the cover story of 
the November 19 issue of the journal Nature, Kyte presents his 
analysis of the sample and concludes that the cosmic impactor, 
some six miles in diameter, that broadsided Mexico's Yucatan 
peninsula was probably an asteroid, and not a comet.

"The fossil meteorite strongly supports the idea that the impactor 
was an asteroid and not a comet," Kyte said.  "There is a strong 
probability that this is a bullet from a smoking gun.  That was 
one of the worst days the Earth had in the last billion years, and 
it is important to understand what happened."

Kyte's analysis of the sample's texture and chemistry confirmed 
that the object is a meteorite.  He considers it highly likely 
that the sample is from the asteroid that struck 65 million years 
ago, and if so, it is the first piece of the asteroid that is 
large enough to study and analyze.

What is Kyte's evidence that the meteorite was from an asteroid? 
First, comets travel at much higher velocities than asteroids, 
most likely vaporizing themselves on collision, Kyte noted.  
Therefore, the mere fact that a sample survived the impact is 
evidence that the object was not a comet, he said.  Second, Kyte's 
analysis suggests that the meteorite came from a typical, rocky 
carbonaceous chondrite--a description of objects in the asteroid 
belt--rather than the porous, fluffy type of interplanetary dust 
associated with icy comets.

The fossil meteorite was encrusted in mud for 65 million years, 
buried beneath more than 50 yards of sediment in the North Pacific 
Ocean.  It no longer has any of its original minerals, but its 
texture and shape remain the same, Kyte said.  Kyte located the 
piece while studying a sediment layer from the Cretaceous/ 
Tertiary boundary--whose sediments are widely recognized to 
contain the record of a large asteroid or comet impact--and 
suspected right away that he found an important clue to the 
mystery of what happened 65 million years ago.

"Although the fossil meteorite is only a tenth of an inch in size, 
it was 1,000 times bigger than anything else in the sediment, 
"Kyte said.  "In this dark brown sediment, I saw this small white 
speck."

In his National Science Foundation-funded research, Kyte analyzed 
the piece using UCLA's electron microprobe and neutron activation 
laboratories.  He found it to be high in iridium--an element that 
is abundant in meteorites.

"That's when I knew I had something special--a small chunk of the 
asteroid," Kyte said.

Asteroids, which originate in the asteroid belt between Mars and 
Jupiter, are pieces of largely rocky material remaining from early 
in the evolution of the solar system.  They did not form into 
planets, probably because of their close proximity to Jupiter.  A 
typical asteroid travels at about 40,000 miles per hour, Kyte 
noted.  Comets are from beyond Pluto, and travel about twice as 
fast, he said.  Comets are believed to be composed of about half 
rocky material and half icy material.

Some scientists think the destructive meteorite 65 million years 
ago is an example of comet showers that bombard the Earth every 
25-30 million years, causing mass extinctions.  If the impact was 
from an asteroid, as Kyte believes, such theories become harder to 
defend, he said.

The impact 65 million years ago, at the end of what is known as 
the Cretaceous period, is believed to have had devastating effects 
on the world's climate, and has been implicated in the extinction 
of the dinosaurs and many other forms of life.  Prior to the 
crash, a few thousand dinosaur species had thrived for 160 million 
years.  Questions remain about how the asteroid affected the 
environment, how long it took for the extinctions to occur, and 
the exact size of the massive object.
------------------------------------------------------------------

LEONIDS SAMPLE RETURN PAYLOAD HAS BEEN FOUND--SCIENTISTS ARE 
EXAMINING THE AEROGEL "COMET-CATCHER" FOR TRACES OF LEONID 
METEOROIDS
From NASA Space Science News

23 November 1998

The Leonids Sample Return payload has been recovered.  It was 
pinpointed by amateur balloon trackers on November 18th, and 
rescued from a briar patch in Chatsworth, Georgia in good 
condition.

Scientists at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center launched the 
balloon on November 17th during the Leonids meteor shower.  It 
carried a CCD video camera to record the shower for a live 
webcast, as well as a device designed to capture Leonid meteoroids 
and return them to Earth intact.  The "Comet Catcher" is a matrix 
of aerogel-filled wells (similar to Petri dishes) that were fixed 
to the outside of the balloon package.  The payload was carried to 
an altitude greater than 100,000 feet, above 98% of Earth's 
atmosphere, during a flight that lasted 1 hour 54 minutes.  At its 
maximum altitude the balloon ruptured, according to plan, and the 
payload descended to Earth by parachute for a relatively gentle 
landing in Georgia.

The aerogel sample collectors have been returned to scientists at 
the NASA Marshall Space Sciences Lab, where they are being 
examined with an environmental scanning electron microscope for 
evidence of meteoroids.

Bill Brown (WB8ELK) contributed this account of the recovery.  
"Today (November 18th), Melody Johnson and pilot Don Henson flew 
over Chatsworth, Georgia and pinpointed Sign up for our the 
landing site by homing in on the 144.000 MHz tracking signal 
coming from the balloon.  Melody	used a ham radio unit supplied 
by Randy Ware, director of the technology center of Dalton Junior 
High School."

"As soon as they landed, Melody drove to the area and homed in on 
the signal and stopped in front of Homer's Yarn and Textile Sales 
when the radio signal became very strong.  After explaining the 
situation, owner Homer Dills walked behind his warehouse and found 
the payload lying in a briar patch just behind the building.  The 
payload is in excellent condition and the strobe lamp was still 
flashing.  The landing site is just off of Old Dalton Ellijay Road 
about 1.6 miles due west of downtown Chatsworth, Georgia.  
Coordinates:  34d 46.19m N, 84d 47.90m W."

"Melody Johnson lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee and works at Al 
Johnson Volvo and Volkswagen in Dalton, Georgia.  Her daughter 
Katie is a student at Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga, 
Tennessee.  Melody has experience in tracking high altitude 
balloon experiments with Bill Brown WB8ELK for Project HALO (High 
Altitude Lift Off) flown by the Huntsville, Alabama chapter of the 
National Space Society's Project HALO and also for the Atlanta 
Balloonatics group.  She organized today's tracking effort, which 
resulted in a speedy recovery.  She has been awarded the title, 
'Ace Balloon Tracker'."

[For more information on this article, see 
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/ast23nov98_1.htm]
------------------------------------------------------------------

GALILEO EUROPA MISSION STATUS REPORTS
JPL releases

9 November 1998

The Galileo spacecraft has finished transmitting to Earth the bulk 
of the pictures and science information recorded onboard during 
the September 26 flyby of Jupiter's moon Europa.  Among remaining 
data to be sent this week are a dozen images, including a mosaic 
of pictures taken near Europa's terminator, the dividing line 
between dayside and nightside.  Three sets of images will be 
returned of the Agenor Linea, a bright area believed to be fairly 
young.

Science data transmission by Galileo will be suspended twice this 
week, on Thursday and Friday, November 12-13, so the spacecraft 
can perform regular propulsion system maintenance and a standard 
gyroscope test.  Preliminary results from a gyro test on Thursday, 
November 5, show no significant changes in performance.

These activities are part of preparation for the spacecraft's next 
encounter with Europa on November 22.  A final Europa flyby is on 
the calendar for early 1999, followed by four flybys of Jupiter's 
moon Callisto and one or two of Jupiter's moon Io, depending on 
spacecraft health.

22 November 1998

The majority of today's activity surrounds the spacecraft's close 
flyby of Europa.  The flyby will occur at 3:38 am PST [See note 1] 
at an altitude of 2273 kilometers (1418 miles).  Observations are 
also taken of Jupiter, Io and Ganymede.  Galileo also passes 
within 2.35 million kilometers (1.46 million miles) of Callisto at 
about 6:00 PM PST today.

The first of today's Europa observations is performed by the 
spacecraft camera, and consists of a series of images near the 
terminator of bright polar plains.  Later in the morning, the 
camera also looks at a dark band formation known as Rhadamanthys 
Linea, as well as a series of elevated features, regions of pits 
and plateaus near Europa's north pole, and a region of transition 
from bright plains to dark plains.

These observations are then followed by three performed by the 
near-infrared mapping spectrometer together with the ultraviolet 
spectrometer.  The observations target a region of complex 
intersecting dark lines, a region of sharply defined dark lines, 
and Europa's northern polar region.

The camera then returns to the observation schedule by taking a 
series of images, split between two observations, to capture a 
section of Europa's surface near the terminator from 30 degrees 
south of the equator to 60 degrees north of the equator.  The 
camera will image Tegid, an impact crater with an unusual domed 
morphology.  Two images will also be taken of a region in which 
mottled, possibly "chaos," terrain appears to be older than the 
ubiquitous ridges and bands that dominate the surface of Europa.  
Elsewhere, chaos type terrains appear to be younger than nearby 
heavily ridged and grooved plains.

The photopolarimeter radiometer continues the observations of 
Europa with its second low resolution global scale map (the first 
map was collected yesterday).  This is followed by another global 
observation of Europa performed jointly by the ultraviolet 
spectrometer and the near-infrared mapping spectrometer.  
Continuing with the global-scale observations, the camera then 
takes two more observations of Europa.

Three observations of Jupiter are performed today.  The first two 
are by the near-infrared mapping spectrometer and are snapshots of 
the composition and temperature of Jupiter's atmosphere.  The 
third observation is performed by the ultraviolet spectrometer and 
provides information on long-term changes in the amount of 
hydrogen in Jupiter's atmosphere.  These ultraviolet measurements 
will allow scientists to further their understanding of 
interactions between Jupiter's upper cloud layers, lower layers, 
and Jupiter's magnetosphere.

Three observations of Io are performed late in the day, one each 
by the camera, near-infrared mapping spectrometer, and ultraviolet 
spectrometer.  The observations are performed to detect changes in 
the surface of Io, and to use in planning for the scheduled Io 
flybys late in 1999.  The camera will examine the potential source 
of a new intense volcanic hotspot first observed during Galileo's 
May encounter.  The ultraviolet spectrometer, in conjunction with 
the extreme ultraviolet spectrometer, also takes a remote look at 
Io's plasma torus.

A single observation of Ganymede is performed during this 
encounter.  In it, the photopolarimeter radiometer gathers 
polarimetric measurements from a portion of Ganymede's surface 
that was not completely covered during Galileo's primary mission.

Late today, after all recorded observations have been completed, 
Galileo begins processing and transmitting science information 
stored on its onboard tape recorder during the encounter period.  
First on the playback schedule are two observations performed by 
the photopolarimeter radiometer.  Both observations contain 
polarimetric measurements, which provide information on the 
texture and composition of the target bodies (Io and Europa).

The encounter period ends tomorrow and with it comes the return of 
This Week on Galileo.  Come back to this URL for details on this 
week's exciting plans!

Note 1.  All times listed correspond to the Pacific Time zone 
(currently standard time) and spacecraft event time.  Radio 
signals indicating that an event has occurred on the spacecraft 
reach the Earth 33 to 50 minutes later, depending on the time of 
year.  Currently, this time is 38 minutes.  The current correction 
between Pacific Standard Time and Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) is 
8 hours.

For more information on the Galileo spacecraft and its mission to 
Jupiter, please visit the Galileo home page at 
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/galileo
------------------------------------------------------------------

MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT OVERVIEW
By the Mars Surveyor operations project manager

13 November 1998

The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft continues Phase 2 aerobraking 
operations in excellent health.  Progress continues per plan as 17 
minutes of orbit period have been removed over the past 11 drag 
passes.  The 6-orbit running mean is currently 0.268 N/m2, which is 
above the 0.23 corridor control trigger limit.  The project has 
elected to gain a little orbit period margin and allow the 
overshoot to occur for a short period.  The 2 minute deficit from 
the baseline plan has now been erased.  One corridor control 
maneuver was executed on the apoapsis of orbit 710.  An 
operational readiness test was conducted for the Mars Polar Lander 
launch and initial acquisition activities.
------------------------------------------------------------------

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

14 November 1998

Mars Climate Orbiter:  Launch -27 days
Final weighing of the orbiter--a healthy 1393.7 lbs.

Mars Polar Lander:  Launch -51 days
Yesterday, The flight Pyro Initiation Unit (PIU) was removed and 
returned to Denver for re-re-work.

20 November 1998

Mars Climate Orbiter:
Orbiter launch processing activities are proceeding on schedule in 
the Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility (SAEF-2) 
facility at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) with launch vehicle 3rd 
stage mate 4 days away and launch 20 days away.  Final blanket 
installation and other vehicle closeout activities were 
accomplished.  Final weight and spin balance was completed.  The 
orbiter final weight is 1394.67 lbs.  Rework of the flight Pyro 
Initiation Unit (PIU) to eliminate the potential for latchup was 
completed successfully and the PIU is scheduled for reinstallation 
on the orbiter on November 21.  Final cleaning of the Mars Color 
Imager (MARCI) and Pressure Modulator InfraRed Radiometer (PMIRR) 
optics was accomplished.  Final vehicle cleaning and final vehicle 
walkdown by all cognizant engineers and independent mechanical 
experts was completed in preparation for 3rd stage mate.

Mars Polar Lander:
Lander launch processing activities are proceeding on schedule in 
the SAEF-2 facility at KSC with launch vehicle 3rd stage mate 25 
days away and launch 44 days away.  Rework of the flight Pyro 
Initiation Unit (PIU) to eliminate the potential for latchup was 
completed successfully and the PIU was reinstalled on the lander 
on November 19.  Flight software build 8.1 (the final planned 
software build) was loaded on the lander.  Mission system testing 
of the cruise/trajectory correction maneuver and entry, descent, 
and landing (scripted attitude) phases was completed successfully.  
A full up launch rehearsal was conducted successfully on November 
17 with the vehicle powered and exercised in a flight like manner.

21 November 1998

Mars Climate Orbiter:  Launch -19 days
Final closeout activities are progressing on schedule.  The 
reworked flight Pyro Initiation Unit (PIU) was reinstalled, the 
interface and all functionality reverified.

Mars Polar Lander:  Launch -43 days
The fault protection Mission Systems Test (MST) and PIU 
reverification was conducted successfully.

For more information on the Mars Surveyor 98 mission, please visit 
our website at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98

The following photos have been added to the Mars Surveyor 98 home 
page [courtesy of Ron Baalke].

Installation of the Deep Space 2 microprobes on the Mars Polar 
Lander http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/images/ksc981110.html

Delta II Rocket Arriving At Launch Pad 17A At Kennedy Space Center 
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/images/delta981030.html
------------------------------------------------------------------
End Marsbugs Vol. 5, No. 24




