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Mars Pathfinder Update - July 23, 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
                      July 23, 1997
              1:30 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time

     The Mars Pathfinder lander and rover continue to operate 
flawlessly on the surface of Mars, 19 days after landing in an 
ancient outflow channel called Ares Vallis.   

     Pathfinder's 1-foot-tall roving geologist -- named Sojourner 
-- continues to collect data on crustal materials and rocks in 
the immediate vicinity to provide scientists with new information 
on the geology of this region. The Pathfinder lander, on the 
other hand, has become a virtual weather station, using its wind 
socks, wind sensors and image magnets around-the-clock now to 
profile the pressure, temperature, density and opacity of the 
Martian atmosphere.       

     Two downlink sessions were successfully completed by 11 a.m. 
today, using the 70-meter (230-foot) antenna of NASA's Deep Space 
Network facility in Madrid, Spain, reported David Gruel, Mars 
Pathfinder flight director for Sol 19.  The flight team retrieved 
a total of 45 megabits of data over night, most of which was 
imaging data from the ongoing science experiments. 

     "The lander and rover are in excellent health and continue 
to operate flawlessly," Gruel said. "Meteorological data are 
being gathered around the clock." 

     First on Sojourner's list of activities tonight is a wheel 
abrasion experiment, in which the 10.5-kilogram (23-pound) 
vehicle will turn and dig some of its wheels into the fine 
Martian sand to measure material properties of the surface. Next 
the rover will position its alpha proton X-ray spectrometer face-
down in the soil next to a rock called "Lamb" and make 
measurements of the rock's chemical composition.

     On this Martian day, Sol 19, Earth rose over the Sagan 
Memorial Station at 9:30 p.m. PDT yesterday, July 22.  Sunrise 
was at 12:30 a.m. July 23, and Earth set occurred at 11:04 a.m. 
PDT today.  

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