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
January 10, 1997
All spacecraft subsystems continue to operate normally as Pathfinder continues its journey to Mars. Today the spacecraft is approximately 10 million kilometers (6 million miles) from Earth, traveling at a velocity of about 32 kilometers per second (7,200 miles per hour) with respect to Earth.

Pathfinder successfully performed its first and largest trajectory correction maneuver at 7:40 p.m. Pacific Standard Time on Thursday, January 9. Two of the spacecraft's eight one-pound thrusters fired continuously for 90 minutes, changing the spacecraft's velocity by 31 meters per second (69 miles per hour). Later in the evening, flight controllers turned the spacecraft about 35 degrees back toward Earth so that radio navigation could be performed more effectively. The spacecraft will remain in this position until the next flight path correction maneuver is performed in early February. Doppler data indicate the first flight maneuver last night went just as planned.

Flight controllers will perform science instrument health checks next week. They will turn on the spacecraft's backup heat rejection system pump as well and allow it to operate in parallel with Pathfinder's primary pump. These pumps circulate freon around the perimeter of the cruise stage and down into the electronics of the lander and rover to keep the vehicles cool during the cruise to Mars.

Additional information and frequent updates on Pathfinder's flight to Mars can be obtained on the mission's World Wide Web site: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mars.

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