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 24, 1997
2:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time
All communications sessions between the Pathfinder lander
and rover were successfully completed today, one day short of the
mission's three-week anniversary on the surface of Mars.
Sol 20 began when the Earth rose over Mars' horizon at 10:30
p.m. Pacific Daylight Time last night (July 23), enabling the
flight team to initiate communications with the spacecraft. The
Sun later rose at 1:15 a.m. PDT this morning, supplying the
lander and rover with the energy needed to carry out specific
tasks.
Communications were carried out using the 70-meter (230-
foot) antenna of NASA's Deep Space Network facility in Madrid,
Spain. Forty-seven megabits of data during two downlink sessions
were returned on Sol 20.
The data indicated that both the lander and rover remain in
excellent health and are continuing to operate masterfully.
Flight Director Dave Gruel reported that no further flight
software resets have occurred since the team sent modified flight
software three sols, or days, ago.
Today's data included numerous images taken for ongoing
science experiments. The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) also
completed another section of the 12-color super panorama image of
the landing site, then imaged the rover to add to an ongoing
"rover movie" that is being assembled. IMP took a final, end-of-
the-day photo of Sojourner following completion of its
activities.
Sojourner traveled a total of 7/10ths of a meter (2.3 feet)
today and performed another soil mechanics experiment that
involved staging a "wheely."
The last of its activities was to lower the alpha proton X-ray
spectrometer onto the soil near the rock named Lamb. Presently,
because it is night on Mars, the rover is powered down and using
only its battery to operate the spectrometer and gather data on
the Martian soil near Lamb. That data will be transmitted to
Earth via the lander during the next Martian day, Sol 21, which
begins when Earth rises over Mars tonight at 8:48 p.m. PDT.
Activities for Sol 21 will include another rover soil
mechanics test, some more autonomous driving and repositioning of
Sojourner's spectrometer against the side of Lamb in preparation
for data-gathering the following night.
The lander's meteorological experiment reported highs today
of minus 2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit) and morning
low temperatures of minus 73 degrees Celsius (minus 99 degrees
Fahrenheit). The weather detectors also recorded large
fluctuations of 3/10ths millibars in total pressure on the
surface of Mars.
On this Martian day, Sol 20, the Earth set at 11:45 a.m.
PDT, ending spacecraft communications with Earth for the day.
The Sun set at 1 p.m. PDT.
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