[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Mars Pathfinder Update - October 13, 1997


MARS PATHFINDER MISSION STATUS
13 October 1997, 1:15 p.m. PDT

Today we attempted to send a set of commands to the spacecraft
to turn on its main transmitter.  This is a similar set of
commands that we have been sending for the past several days.
We sent these commands over Deep Space Network station in
Madrid.  In both cases, we did not receive a transmitter on
signal on the ground indicating the command has been received
by the spacecraft.  We also uplinked sequences that will start
tomorrow morning when the spacecraft wakes up and turn on its
transmitter near local solar noon.  However, since we did not
see the transmitter on today, we have no verification that these
sequences were received by the spacecraft.

The Pathfinder anomoly team is continuing to investigate the problems
we've had over the past several weeks, specifically related to commanding
the spacecraft over the last week, and we are continuing to try to 
understand what configuration the spacecraft is in.  We will have
meetings tomorrow to discuss what our next step is in our strategy.
We do plan to send sequences to the spacecraft that will attempt to
move the high gain antenna and give us a downlink session in the
middle of the day when we can actually receive telemetry data.

For further information on the Mars Pathfinder Mission,
please call our Mission Status Report line at
1-800-391-6654.