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Mars Pathfinder Mission Status

20 June 1997


The spacecraft remains in good health and is currently about 168 million kilometers from Earth (7 million km from Mars). The total flight time since launch is now 196 days, and we have 14 days until Mars arrival.

Completed the final flight software load process including resetting the flight computer. The spacecraft is now operating using the new software, including two small changes made as a result of Operational Readiness Test #7. The patch process worked flawlessly and we recovered from the reset within two hours.

Completed the rover flight software patch and health check. A number of changes to the rover software have been identified as a result of post-launch testing, so a small patch was performed this week in conjunction with the planned rover health check. The rover woke up as expected based on lander command, the code patch was accepted, and all engineering telemetry measurements were normal.

Completed validating all sequences required for pre-EDL and initial surface operations. Approximately 370 sequences will be loaded on the spacecraft starting this weekend.

TMOD conducted a readiness review for Mars Pathfinder EDL and Surface Operations on June 13. No major issues were identified, and all DSN and MGSO elements will be ready to support project operations.


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