MARSBUGS:  
The Electronic Astrobiology Newsletter
Volume 6, Number 1, 15 January 1999.

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)	BRITISH INTERPLANETARY SOCIETY MARS LIFE SYMPOSIUM
By Julian Hiscox

2)	LIFE ON THE EDGE
By Tony Phillips and David Noever 

3)	PUBLIC LECTURES EXPLORE NASA SEARCH FOR "COSMIC ROOTS"
JPL release

4)	MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ZOOMS IN ON MARS
By Diane Ainsworth

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

6)	MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT & MISSION STATUS REPORTS
By John McNamee

7)	MARS POLAR LANDER LAUNCH PHOTOS
By Ron Baalke
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BRITISH INTERPLANETARY SOCIETY MARS LIFE SYMPOSIUM
By Julian Hiscox

3 January 1999

Julian reports on a meeting about the possibility of life on Mars 
recently held at the British Interplanetary Society.

British scientists have long been interested in the origin of life 
and the question of life on Mars.  After all it was the English 
geneticist and polymath J. B. S. Haldane, who early this century, 
independently with Alexander Oparin, advanced the idea of life 
arising from a "primordial soup" on the primitive Earth.  Alfred 
Wallace co-discover of the theory of natural selection, published 
the first work on habitable zones when he showed in his book Is 
Mars Habitable, that Mars was too cold to support the type of 
advanced civilization that at the time Percivall Lowell claimed he 
had conclusive proof.  James Lovelock, perhaps more famously known 
for his Gaia hypothesis, pointed out in the 1960s that Mars was 
inhospitable for terrestrial life.  At the time there was wide 
spread belief that the change in color on the surface of Mars was 
perhaps due to vegetation.  Indeed many people held out for at 
least widespread microbial activity on the surface of Mars.

The British Interplanetary Society played host on November 11th, 
1998, to the first UK symposium specifically dealing with the 
topic of the possible origin and evolution of life on Mars and how 
traces for such life might be found.  The symposium organized by 
society member Julian A. Hiscox and fellow Richard L. S. Taylor 
brought together scientists and engineers representing a wide 
variety of disciplines.  The meeting clearly illustrated that only 
through a cross-fertilization of knowledge will the problems 
facing the search for possible traces of life on Mars be solved.  
The symposium followed a logical progression in that first the 
idea of life on Mars was discussed and how life may have arisen on 
that planet, where such life might have lived, followed by a 
discussion on how one might go about searching for such life.  The 
technologies required to do this where then discussed.

Richard began the meeting by discussing the historical aspect of 
the search for life beyond Earth.  He drew a number of conclusions 
from an examination of the manner in which scientific studies have 
been done in the past.  These conclusions provide important 
lessons for the conduct of future research.  Richard pointed out 
that when we seek to test by experiment a field of science we must 
approach the task in a manner that both the experimental method 
and the interpretation of the results are not formed and 
constrained by pre-existing conventions.  He also noted that we 
have also to ensure that all the data from which we seek to 
formulate our conclusions are within the technological limitations 
of the instruments and techniques in the sense that they are 
within the range of reliability and repeatability.  In the case of 
the search for extra terrestrial life we have to bear in mind the 
subliminal cultural and influences of the distant to the relative 
recent past and the reality that subconsciously most of us want to 
find life beyond the Earth, and particularly on Mars.

Julian Hiscox, a molecular biologist, followed Richard by 
providing an overview of some of the ideas for the origin of life 
on Earth and examining whether these could be applied to the case 
for ancient Mars.  He showed that studies of Earth's earliest 
biosphere have suggested a close coupling between the evolution of 
early life forms and the physical and chemical evolution of the 
planetary surface.  He pointed out that from a biological 
perspective, there were many similarities between early Earth and 
early Mars.  This led to the idea that life may also have arisen 
on Mars.  The Mariner, Viking and now Mars Global Surveyor 
missions clearly demonstrated that liquid water once flowed freely 
on the martian surface.  Julian outlined various theories that 
could explain the origin of life on Earth and applied these to the 
case for Mars.

Don Cowan from University College London gave a fascinating talk 
on how extreme thermal ecosystems carry our deepest insights into 
earliest life on Earth and maybe to the origin of life.  The study 
of organisms found within extreme thermal environments can provide 
pointers as to where to look on Mars for such habitats and the 
forms of life that may have arisen and the remains they may have 
left behind.  Don suggested that if life arose on Mars, then 
traces of such life, or perhaps even living organisms, might be 
found deep below the surface, where liquid water is stable, 
perhaps around geothermal hot spots, or possible hydrothermal 
vents.

Molecular genetics would indicate that our ancestors, the very 
first microbes, were hyperthermophiles.  Decedents of these 
organisms are still around today and live at temperatures between 
80°C and 113°C.  Various pieces of evidence might indicate that 
life did indeed arise at hydrothermal vents or hot springs.  Mike 
Russell from the University of Glasgow, a specialist in this 
field, presented his ideas on the mechanism of how life might 
arise at such high temperatures.  Using both slides, OHPs and 
video(!), he suggested that reaction between the reduced mafic 
Martian crust and water from the Martian ocean in equilibrium with 
several bars of carbon dioxide would have led inevitably to the 
onset of geochemical metabolism at hot submarine seepages.  Mike 
proposed that the co-development of an internally-stored program 
would have afforded the cellular metabolists the propensity to 
evolve, eventually to find new energy sources, including solar 
photons.

Whilst one can speculate about a hot start to life, this doesn’t 
necessarily mean that such features existed on Mars in the past, 
or that liquid water might be present under the surface of Mars 
today.  However, society Fellow, and author of the first technical 
level book on terraforming, Martyn Fogg, outlined hydrological 
models that take into account global topography variations predict 
the existence of artesian basins on Mars where pressurized 
groundwater may exist at comparatively shallow depths.  Martyn 
suggested that it is possible that such basins are extensive and 
could involve Hellas and much of the northern plains.  The 
implication of this is that the liquid water resource on Mars 
might be easier to probe and exploit than commonly assumed.  Such 
a ready supply could finally answer the question of life on Mars 
and enhances the realism of schemes for colonization and 
terraforming.

We know that the surface of the Earth teams with life, whatever 
the conditions.  It was to the Antarctic dry valleys, the coldest, 
driest valleys on the Earth, that David Wynn-Williams drew our 
attention to in his talk.  Since the evaluation of the Viking 
landers in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica 25 years ago, 
hydrological models for Mars suggest four epochs dating from 4.2 
Gya:  abundant water, water restricted to ice- covered lakes; 
water restricted to porous rocks; and present surface desert.  
David described how these epochs all have current Antarctic 
analogues and that these are currently being characterized for 
functional biomolecules in situ by the novel remote application of 
far-IR laser FT-Raman spectroscopy, suitable for future landers 
and micro- spatial analysis of returned Martian samples.

Whilst many of the above speakers described how the origin of life 
may have occurred on Mars, we have no direct conclusive for this 
hypothesis.  Monica Grady of the Natural History Museum, 
preeminent in the field of meteorite analysis, described her and 
her colleagues work on the characterization of martian meteorites.  
Specifically Monica focused on ALH84001, at nearly 3.9 billion 
years old is the oldest martian meteorite discovered and 
represents a time on Mars when the climate might have resembled 
the climate on primordial Earth.  Indeed there is currently a 
lively debate concerning the possibility that ALH84001 contains 
traces on an ancient martian life.  Almost two years have past 
since the initial announcement and all of the interpretations for 
life have been challenged (or supported).  Monica provided a 
timely review of the evidence for or against the case for life.  
She pointed out that ALH84001 is a rock out of context.  When we 
study microfossils on the Earth, we know that the surrounding rock 
was sedimentary--i.e. liquid water was present.  This is not the 
case with ALH84001.  Monica suggested that whilst this meteorite 
probably does not contain signs of a past martian life, features 
of the meteorite do suggest that the climate of ancient Mars was 
conducive to life.

The analysis of ALH84001 has been conducted with state of the art 
laboratory equipment.  Following on from this talk, and 
complementing his collaborator, David Wynn-Williams, Howell 
Edwards of the University of Bradford described the potential of 
Raman spectroscopic techniques for the characterization of 
molecular compounds of geological and biological relevance 
interest.  The hostility of the martian environment for 
extraterrestrial organisms was reviewed and parallels drawn with 
harsh conditions in Antarctica.  The broad requirements of lander-
based Raman spectroscopic systems were outlined with reference to 
known conditions from observations of the martian atmosphere and 
surface geology.  Howell gave some from his own laboratory-based 
Raman spectroscopic studies of cryptoendolithic and epilithic 
lichen communities from Antarctica.  He described how such an 
instrument could be designed to fly on board a spacecraft destined 
for the martian surface.

Of course the practical realities of designing an instrument for 
landing or orbiting the martian surface may be different from 
original conceptions.  Fred Taylor from the University of Oxford 
highlighted how an instrument was developed at Oxford to measure 
the global atmospheric and surface temperatures, water vapor 
profiles and airborne dust abundance on Mars.  This instrument, 
the Pressure Modulator Infrared Radiometer (or PMIRR for short) 
was designed using techniques developed at Oxford University 
(originally for the Earth’s atmosphere, but also deployed at Venus 
on the Pioneer Venus Orbiter in 1978-79).

Whilst scientists have many instruments they would like to use to 
study Mars, many factors constrain the design of an instrument - 
most notably its weight as this affects the cost of the mission.  
As with any interplanetary mission, the cost of visiting Mars is 
high owing to the need to provide a very large velocity increment 
to the spacecraft.  This requires the use of a considerable mass 
of chemical propellant, which must first be launched into Earth 
orbit.  Dave Fearn of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency 
described how this mass could be reduced by a factor of 10 or more 
by employing ion propulsion, thereby reducing overall cost 
substantially.  Using the Viking mission as an example, he showed 
that the same mission could have been performed using an ion 
engine with the spacecraft having a total mass less than 1700 kg.  
Or alternatively, one could fly almost double the science payload 
for the same launch costs.

The symposium was a great success as judged by the enthusiasm of 
the speakers, the response of attendees and also the press.  The 
symposium would not have been possible without the help of Shirley 
Jones and Suzann Parry and the staff at BIS.  We hope to hold a 
similar symposium in the future when new information comes in from 
the current flotilla of spacecraft in orbit or bound for Mars and 
further analysis of SNC meteorites and how all of these findings 
affect the case for life on Mars.
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LIFE ON THE EDGE
By Tony Phillips and David Noever 
From NASA Space Science News

13 January 1999

A hands-on experiment for students to learn about life in extreme 
environments begins this week at 14,249 feet.  NASA scientists are 
joining forces with researchers from the Center for Astrophysical 
Research in Antarctica and the University of California's White 
Mountain Research Station to conduct a unique educational activity 
in microbiology.  It's a hands-on experiment designed for students 
of all ages to investigate life in extreme environments and to 
learn about the possibilities for life elsewhere in the Solar 
System.

In recent years scientists have begun to recognize that certain 
life forms on Earth can thrive under very extreme conditions.  
Viable microorganisms have been found living in acidic hot 
springs, buried under ancient permafrost, and even inside volcanic 
rocks.  Perhaps the most astonishing survivor of extreme living 
conditions is the common bacteria Streptococcus mitis.  Unknown to 
mission planners in 1967 a small colony of Streptococcus bacteria 
traveled to the moon aboard Surveyor 3, stowed away inside the 
spacecraft's TV camera.  Three years later when Apollo 12 
astronauts returned the camera to Earth, scientists were 
astonished to find that the bacteria were viable.  They had 
survived 3 years of hard vacuum, with no food or water.  In 1991 
Apollo 12 commander Pete Conrad commented "I always thought the 
most significant thing we ever found on the whole...  Moon was 
that little bacteria who came back and lived..."

The discovery of things living in extreme environments has clearly 
changed our understanding of life and where it might be found.  
Places like the polar caps of Mars or oceans on Jupiter's moons 
were once thought to be too extreme for life, but many scientists 
are now reexamining that conventional wisdom.  Extreme-loving 
bacteria and other organisms ("extremophiles") are showing 
scientists that there is a surprising range of conditions where 
basic life forms can set up housekeeping.


This month scientists will launch a program called Life on the 
Edge designed to bring the concepts of life in extreme 
environments to classrooms everywhere.  "The basic idea," says Dr. 
David Noever, a member of NASA/Marshall's astrobiology research 
group, "is to expose a collection of microorganisms to some of 
Earth's harshest environments, including geothermal vents, high 
mountain peaks, and even the South Pole.  We plan to distribute 
the microbes to US classrooms where students can perform 
experiments to see how well they fared.  The microbes would come 
with an 'Extremophiles Experimenter's Kit' containing all the 
basic ingredients a student might need to investigate how well the 
microbes survived their experience." 

Students would apply simple laboratory protocols to assess the 
effects of severe conditions on their microbe samples, and to 
learn how these conditions compare with environments elsewhere in 
the solar system, such as Europa, the Moon, and Mars.  "The exact 
contents of the Experimenter's Kit are still up in the air," 
continued Noever, "and there are many candidate micro-organisms 
for this experiment, including yeasts native to Antarctica, 
bacteria from Russian volcanoes, and others.  We have to decide 
which microbes are going to work best in the field and in the 
classroom.  That's the purpose of the White Mountain activity."

Step One--The White Mountain Summit

The first phase of Life on the Edge begins next week when Dr. Tony 
Phillips and a team of 8 Siberian Huskies will transport a 50 
pound container of test microbes to the summit of the White 
Mountain Range in central California.  Conditions there are 
severe.  At 14,249 feet, the air pressure is only 600 millibars, 
and the sustained temperature during winter is a frigid -20 C.  
Annual precipitation is less than 12 inches, most of which arrives 
as snow in winter.  The temperature, pressure, and low humidity 
are similar to conditions at Earth's south pole during the austral 
summer.


"The White Mountain summit is just the first of many extreme 
environments we plan to explore through Life on the Edge.  This 
first run is a test to help us validate some of our basic 
assumptions," explained Dr. John Horack, director of science 
communications at the NASA/Marshall Space Sciences Lab.  "Do the 
microbe containers work as expected? Which microorganisms survive 
the bitter cold? What lab protocols are best? You don't know 
unless you do the experiment, and we'd like students to help us 
figure these things out.  That's why we're inviting educators to 
become involved now, at the beginning, by signing up for our 
Partners in Discovery program.  By joining they'll be eligible to 
receive microbe samples from the White Mountains and to help us 
develop classroom protocols that we'll use with microorganisms 
from other extreme environments." 

The microbes will be situated at the White Mountain summit during 
the 3 harshest months of the Northern winter, and then returned 
for testing in early May 1999.  Most of the microorganisms will be 
members of the family [that includes] Saccharomyces cerevisiae, 
better known as baker's yeast.  Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of 
the half-dozen microbes on Earth whose genetic script has been 
comprehensively deciphered.  Notable in the yeast gene is a host 
of signals called thermal shock proteins that trigger the microbe 
to protect itself against extremes in heat and cold.  

Two types of containers will be used.  One will place the microbes 
in thermal contact with the environment, but isolate them from 
other factors like wind, snow, and competing life forms.  A second 
type of container will expose the microbes as fully as possible to 
their surroundings, without actually releasing them into the 
environment.  These "full exposure" vessels will provide the most 
realistic test of life in extreme conditions.

Joining baker's yeast in the microbe containers will be a 
collection of other benign, but extremophilic microorganisms:

* Aquaspirillum arcticum:  a bacterium found under snow and ice in 
the Canadian Northwest territory that produces cold-shock proteins 
and cold-acclimation proteins
* Candida antarctica:  an alkali-tolerant yeast hailing from Lake 
Vanda, Antarctica
* Desulfurella acetivorans:  an anaerobic bacterium discovered in 
the Russian volcano Uzan on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
* Saccharomyces cerevisiae Hansen:  a radiation-tolerant strain of 
Baker's yeast that can survive in the core of a nuclear reactor.
* Shewanella benthica:  a high-pressure bacterium discovered 
living in the Puerto Rico trench.
* Halobacterium halobium:  a salt-loving extremophile from the 
Owens Dry Lake in California

All of the organisms listed above have the best possible biosafety 
rating as determined by the American Type Culture Collection.

After the microbes are recovered in May they will be flown to the 
NASA/Marshall Space Sciences Laboratory.  There, researchers will 
evaluate the design of the microbe containers and examine the 
microbes themselves to see how well they endured winter conditions 
at the summit.  The experience gained at the White Mountain summit 
will be invaluable for planning future Life on the Edge 
expeditions to Alaska, the South Pole, and other frigid, high 
altitude environments.  NASA Space Science News will cover the 
expedition to the White Mountain summit as it progresses.  The 
journey is set to begin this week.

Life on the Edge is a collaborative educational project being 
developed between NASA/Marshall Space Science Laboratory, the 
Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA), and the 
University of California White Mountain Research Station (WMRS).  
Participants include David Noever, Richard Hoover, Tony Phillips, 
John Horack, and Dale Watring of NASA; Randy Landsberg of CARA; 
Joe Szewczak and Susan Szewczak of the WMRS.

[For more information on this topic see 
http://science.nasa.gov/newhome/headlines/msad13jan99_1.htm]
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PUBLIC LECTURES EXPLORE NASA SEARCH FOR "COSMIC ROOTS"
JPL release

11 January 1999

The search for life beyond the solar system will be the topic of a 
pair of free public lectures Thursday, January 21, at the Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory and Friday, January 22, at Pasadena City 
College.  "NASA's Origins Program--The Search for Our Cosmic Roots 
and... Galactic Cousins?" will be the topic of the lectures by Dr. 
Firouz Naderi, manager of the Origins Program at JPL.  The JPL 
lecture will be held in the Laboratory's von Karman Auditorium, 
while the Pasadena City College lecture will be in the campus' 
Forum.  Both are at 7 p.m., with limited seating available on a 
first-come, first-served basis.

Naderi will explain NASA's series of planned missions to trace our 
existence to the formation of galaxies, stars, planets and early 
life on Earth.  Origins missions will also hunt for Earth-like 
planets around stars in our "galactic neighborhood." The lectures 
are part of the monthly von Karman Lecture Series sponsored by 
JPL's Public Affairs Office.  During his 19 years at JPL, Naderi 
has also served as program manager for the Space Science Flight 
Experiments Program, project manager for the Scatterometer and 
SeaWinds projects, and project manager for mobile satellite 
experiments.  Naderi was also the program manager at NASA 
Headquarters for the Advanced Communications Technology Satellites 
Program.

More information about JPL's von Karman Lecture Series is 
available on the Internet at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/lecture/, or 
by calling (818) 354-5011.  JPL is a division of the California 
Institute of Technology.
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MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR ZOOMS IN ON MARS
By Diane Ainsworth
From The JPL Universe

8 January 1999

Mars Global Surveyor began the second phase of aerobraking this 
fall, after spending the spring and summer in an elliptical, 11.6-
hour orbit to allow Mars to move into the proper position for the 
start of the mapping mission in March 1999.  Over five months, the 
spacecraft reaped the benefits of an orbit that took it much 
closer to the planet's surface than will be possible once mapping 
starts.  Surveyor collected an additional bounty of data at a 
closest approach of about 170 kilometers (106 miles) above the 
surface, allowing scientists to make highly detailed measurements 
of the Martian atmosphere and surface and magnetic measurements of 
near-surface fields without interference from currents generated 
by the interaction of the solar wind with the planet.

The results were spectacular.  Close-up views of Elysium Basin 
revealed the first evidence of giant plates of solidified lava, 
rather than lakebed sediments, that appeared to have been broken 
up and transported across the Martian surface millions of years 
ago as they floated on top of molten lava.  Scientists postulated 
that the area in the northern lowlands was once the site of giant 
ponds of lava flows hundreds of kilometers across.

Global Surveyor's closest passage over the planet also took it 
right over the north polar dune fields four times a day, revealing 
new evidence that sand dunes in the region had hopped or rolled 
across the surface in recent months.  Some of the dunes appeared 
to be coated with thin, bright frost that was left over from the 
northern winter season that ended in mid-July.  The frost was 
covered with dark streaks emanating from small dark spots that 
dotted the bases of many of the dunes.  Dr. Michael Malin, 
principal investigator of the Mars Orbiter Camera, suggested that 
the dunes were probably altered by gusts of wind that had blown 
the dark sand out across the frost-covered dunes and created a 
streak of deposited sand over the frost.  To top off a summer of 
bonus science, new images and temperature readings of Phobos 
showed that the small moon had been pummeled by eons of meteoroid 
impacts, pounding surface materials into a fine powder that had 
started some landslides along the steep s lopes of giant craters.

Temperature measurements-taken from distances of 1,045 to 1,435 
kilometers (648 to 890 miles), or far enough away to capture 
global views of the Martian moon in a single spectrum-showed that 
the surface must be composed largely of fine ground powder at l 
east 1 meter (3 feet) thick, and that day- and- night-side 
temperatures varied from extremes of -4 degrees Celsius (25 
degrees Fahrenheit) during the day to lows of -112 Celsius (-170 
degrees Fahrenheit) at night.  Dr. Philip Christensen of Arizona 
State University, principal investigator of the thermal emission 
spectrometer, explained that the temperature drops are the result 
of the absence of an atmosphere around the moon and a thick carpet 
of fine, powdery granules that have a low heat capacity and lose 
heat quickly once the Sun sets.

Extensive laser altimeter measurements were made of the north 
polar region, including scans that crossed very near to the 
geographic pole.  These measurements allow scientists to make an 
accurate determination of the volume of the ice cap.  In addition, 
data from the magnetic investigation revealed peculiar magnetic 
anomalies as the precession of the low point of the orbit, or the 
periapsis, moved across new latitudes.

Mars Global Surveyor will continue aerobraking operations until 
early February 1999.  The spacecraft recorded its 1,000th orbit 
around Mars on Jan.  5 and will descend to a three-hour orbital 
period by Jan.  15.  After reaching a two-hour orbit, the "walk-
out" phase of aerobraking, which will begin to raise the 
spacecraft's periapsis in preparation for the start of the mapping 
mission, will be initiated on February 4, followed by termination 
of aerobraking on February 9.

The flight operations team will deploy Surveyor's high-gain 
antenna on March 30, 1999, approximately three weeks after the 
start of mapping on March 8.  The antenna deployment is being 
delayed to ensure that a minimum set of science data is acquired 
and t he minimum mission success criteria are met in case there is 
any problem resulting from the antenna deployment.  There has been 
some concern about the performance of a damper device in the 
antenna's deployment mechanism.  A problem with a similar damper 
on Global Surveyor's solar panel caused damage to the panel's 
supporting structure just after the spacecraft was launched.

Surveyor's science mapping mission, which will last one full 
Martian year or the equivalent of two Earth years, will be 
complemented by additional imaging and atmospheric measurements in 
2000, when Mars Climate Orbiter begins its scientific mission to 
study the Martian weather, atmosphere and climatic history.
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MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT OVERVIEWS
By Mars Surveyor operations project manager

30 December 1998

Aerobraking operations continue with good reduction in orbital 
period each orbit.  The backup central computer was returned to 
normal operations from contingency mode on Wednesday afternoon, 
December 30th, without incident.  The spacecraft is in excellent 
health.

With the beginning of the eclipse season today, safe mode, the 
spacecraft's deepest level of fault protection, will be disabled 
for the remainder of aerobraking since the spacecraft power state 
commanded by the safe mode firmware cannot be supported.  This is 
a consequence of the additional year of aerobraking, which is now 
being conducted at a greater distance from the sun than was 
provided for in the pre-launch design of the safe mode 
configuration.

23 December 1998

Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) continues successful aerobraking in its 
916th orbit of Mars.  Aerobraking is reducing the orbital period 
by approximately 30 seconds each orbit.  The current orbital 
period is 3 hours 54 minutes.

It is interesting to note that MGS successfully performed an 
aerobraking trim propulsive maneuver on December 21st just one 
hour before MCO's propulsive maneuver.  These back to back events 
demonstrate the multimission operations capabilities of the Mars 
Surveyor Operation Project.

On December 22nd, MGS's backup central computer (it is a hot 
backup, but not in control of the spacecraft) went into 
contingency mode as the result of a violation of the comparison of 
its computed sun position and the on-board sun ephemeris.  
Although contingency mode is the spacecraft's first level of 
system fault protection, this situation is not critical since the 
computer that is in control is not in contingency mode and is 
managing the spacecraft properly.  This condition arose from an 
event five days earlier when the in-control computer correctly 
identified two star transients, but the backup computer only 
identified one, probably due to the 2-second timing difference 
between the two machines.  The attitude error grew during the next 
five-day period to the point where it tripped the sun monitor 
logic limit on Tuesday.  Activities are underway to reestablish 
normal operations in the backup computer during the coming week.  
The only risk to the mission is that if there should be a hardware 
failure in the in-control computer, backup operations would be 
initiated by the backup computer in contingency mode rather than 
in the normal operating state (the current sequence would 
terminate and the spacecraft would fly through the periapsis point 
in its aerodynamically stable flipped over orientation).  Not 
withstanding this situation, MGS is excellent health.

18 December 1998

The Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft continues extremely successful 
aerobraking in its 886th orbit of Mars.  The orbit-to-orbit 
dynamic pressure variability has been has been much lower the past 
three days.  Twelve minutes of margin exist relative to reaching 
the 2 AM orbital node crossing time target and over 400 km of 
apoapsis altitude margin relative to the baseline aerobraking 
plan.  In order to converge on the 2 AM target, some of this 
margin will have to be bled off over the next few weeks.  The 
propulsion fuel tank was successfully repressurized on Thursday 
(12/17/98) to maintain the proper fuel - oxidizer ratio for future 
use of the main engine.  The spacecraft's orbit is now with the 
orbit of Phobos, so no more close encounters will occur.
------------------------------------------------------------------

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

December 30, 1998

Delta 2nd stage prop load was completed.  The Launch Management 
Coordination Meeting and Launch Rehearsal were conducted.  Final 
parameter files were loaded on the spacecraft and battery charging 
is in process.

December 31, 1998

The lander power on countdown rehearsal was conducted very 
successfully.  All open items are closed, software ATP is 
complete, contingency plans are on the shelf.  The lander is ready 
for launch on January 3.

1 January 1999

Mars Polar Lander:
Lander launch processing activities are proceeding on schedule at 
the Space Launch Complex 17-B facility with launch 2 days away.  
Final parameters were loaded on the lander.  A powered on 
countdown rehearsal was conducted successfully.  All open items, 
software acceptance tests, and contingency plans are closed or 
complete.  The lander is on schedule for launch at the opening of 
the launch period on January 3, 1999, at 3:21:10 EST.

3 January 1999

Mars Polar Lander--due to become the first spacecraft to set down 
near the edge of Mars' southern polar cap--pierced through a 
blustery, cloud-covered Florida sky at 3:21 p.m.  Eastern Standard 
Time today atop a Delta II launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air 
Station's Launch Complex 17B.  The spacecraft, launched 
successfully on the first day of the launch period, is equipped 
with a robotic arm to dig beneath the layered terrain of the 
Martian polar region and two microprobes to crash into the 
planet's surface and conduct two days of soil and water 
experiments up to 1 meter (3 feet) below the Martian surface.

Sixty-six seconds after liftoff, the Delta's four solid-rocket 
strap-on boosters were jettisoned.  Firing of the main first-stage 
engine lasted approximately 4 minutes, 24 seconds.  Eight seconds 
later, the first stage was discarded, and 5.5 seconds later the 
second stage ignited.  Four and a half seconds after that, the 
nose cone surrounding the lander was jettisoned.  The second-stage 
burn lasted 6 minutes, 44 seconds and placed the spacecraft into a 
low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 191 kilometers (119 miles).  The 
spacecraft coasted over the Indian Ocean for approximately 23 
minutes before the second stage engine fired briefly a second 
time.

The third stage fired for 88 seconds at 3:57 p.m.  EST to propel 
the spacecraft out of Earth's gravity and on its way to Mars.  At 
4:03 p.m. EST, Mars Polar Lander separated from the third stage.  
A set of solar panels located on the spacecraft's outer cruise 
stage was deployed shortly thereafter and pointed at the Sun.  At 
4:19 p.m. EST, the lander's signal was acquired by a 34-meter-
diameter (112-foot) antenna of NASA's Deep Space Network in 
Canberra, Australia.

Mars Polar Lander's interplanetary cruise to Mars will take it 
more than 180 degrees around the Sun in what is called a Type 2 
trajectory, allowing the spacecraft to target a landing zone close 
to Mars' south pole at 73 to 76 degrees south latitude.  
Throughout the cruise, the spacecraft will communicate with Earth 
using its X-band transmitter and medium-gain horn antenna mounted 
on the cruise stage.  During the first 30 days of flight, the 
spacecraft will be tracked 10 to 12 hours per day.  Quiet phases 
of the trip will require only four hours of tracking time each 
day.

The spacecraft is scheduled to fire its thrusters in a trajectory 
correction maneuver January 18.  That maneuver is designed to 
remove a targeting bias intended to prevent the third stage of the 
Delta II rocket from following in the lander's flight path and 
colliding with Mars, as well as any small launch injection errors.  
That maneuver is expected to take approximately 5 minutes to 
execute.

Mars Polar Lander is the second of two spacecraft launched to the 
red planet during the December 1998-January 1999 Mars launch 
opportunity.  Mars Climate Orbiter was launched December 11, and 
is scheduled to reach Mars next September 23.  Onboard Mars Polar 
Lander are two microprobes developed as the Deep Space 2 project 
under NASA's New Millennium Program.  The Deep Space 2 probes will 
smash into the Martian surface as a test of new technologies for 
future planetary descent probes.

4 January 1999

After a stellar launch Sunday from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air 
Station, NASA's Mars Polar Lander is now on its way to the south 
pole of Mars to search for water ice beneath the edge of layered 
terrain in this uncharted region of the planet.  

The spacecraft remains in excellent health, showing normal power 
and temperature levels and the proper attitude control for 
continuous telecommunications with Earth using its medium-gain 
horn antenna.  The flight team plans to turn the spacecraft 45 
degrees toward Earth later this afternoon and better position its 
medium- gain antenna to improve X-band signal strength.  The 
improved signal will allow the team to perform diagnostic tests of 
Polar Lander's star camera.  The star camera, which is used along 
with the spacecraft's Sun sensors for attitude determination 
during cruise, has not yet been able to acquire a specific set of 
stars and establish the spacecraft's reference in space.  Several 
possibilities may account for this temporary difficulty, including 
particles which may have been dislodged at launch and formed a 
thin halo of dust around the spacecraft, or stray light that is 
being caught inadvertently in the camera's field of view.  The 
flight team reports that this minor difficulty, however, is not 
significantly affecting the spacecraft's performance.

Today Mars Polar Lander is approximately 925,000 kilometers 
(575,000 miles) from Earth, traveling at a speed of about 33 
kilometers per second (73,800 miles per hour) relative to the Sun.  
The spacecraft is on schedule to fire its thrusters in its first 
trajectory correction maneuver on January 18.  This course 
correction is expected to be the largest and longest of four 
planned trajectory corrections, taking about five minutes to 
execute.

For more information on the Mars Surveyor 98 mission, please visit 
our web site at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98
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MARS POLAR LANDER LAUNCH PHOTOS
By Ron Baalke, Mars Surveyor 98 webmaster
 
Photos of today's launch of the Mars Polar Lander have been added 
to the Mars Surveyor 98 home page:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/images/mpllaunch.html

High-resolution photos of the launch are also available:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/images/mpllaunch2.html

Also, the current orbital plot and simulated spacecraft views for 
the Mars Polar Lander are updated every 5 minutes on the home 
page:

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msp98/lander/now.html
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End Marsbugs Vol. 6, No. 1