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Update -- July 31 3:00pm EDT (1900 UT): At a JPL press conference today Pathfinder officials reported the lander and rover were in "excellent health" and not suffering from any computer or communications problems. Battery levels on lander were beginning to drop, however, and controllers planned to suspend operations for a couple days a few days down the road to give the batteries time to recharge. Pathfinder continues to return excellent images, including one which appears to show part of the aeroshell which protected the lander until just before landing. Weather conditions are the same as before, with no changes expected for the next month or so. Update -- July 28 6:00pm EDT (2200 UT): Pathfinder imaging team leader Dr. Peter Smith gave an update on the status of the mission earlier today at a talk for the meeting of the Division for Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. He largely reviewed recent accomplishments already reported. The mission contines to work fine; Sojourner explored the rock Souffle before performing a circumnavigation of the landing site, handing the 6-meter travese on its own. The lander conintues to return images, including finishing sending back the "Insurance Panorama" taken shortly after landing when the camera was in the stowed (not extended) position. Update -- July 25 6:45pm EDT (2245 UT): Both Sojourner and Pathfinder are functioning well. Sojourner is in the vicinity of the rock "Lamb" and will analyze it with its spectrograph within the next night or two. Controllers are beginning to allow the rover to navigate autonomously, letting it pick its own path to a selected destination rather than define the exact path on the ground and relay it to the rover. Pathfinder continues to return of the Martian terrain and weather data. The weather data show temperatures have warmed somewhat in the last week to nearly 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) in the day. Last Update: 1997 July 31 |
