Mars Climate Orbiter to Arrive at Mars This Week

Douglas Isbell

Headquarters, Washington, DC

(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Mary Hardin

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

(Phone: 818/354-5011)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N99-51

NASA’s Mars Climate Orbiter, the first interplanetary weather
satellite, arrives at Mars at 5:01 a.m. EDT (2:01 a.m. PDT) on
Thursday, Sept. 23.

In addition to observing the seasonal climate and daily
weather of Mars, the orbiter will serve as a communications relay
for the Mars Polar Lander, due to set down on layered terrain near
the south pole of the red planet on Dec. 3, 1999.

NASA TV will carry a live feed from orbiter mission control
facilities at both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena,
CA, and Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO. The feed will
begin at 4:30 a.m. EDT and run through 5:45 a.m. (1:30 a.m. to
2:45 a.m. PDT). Animation and video footage related to the
mission will run on the NASA TV Video File beginning on Tuesday,
September 21.

Los Angeles-area reporters are invited to JPL to watch the
event in the von Karman Auditorium. Media relations staff will be
on hand to arrange interviews.

At 11 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. PDT) on Thursday, Sept. 23, there will
be a mission status briefing from JPL that will summarize the
results of the Mars orbit insertion activities and provide a
preview of mission operations.

A text press kit with graphics and full details on the
mission is available on the Internet:

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/files/misc/mcoarrivehq.pdf

NASA Television is broadcast on the satellite GE-2,
transponder 9C, C band, 85 degrees west longitude, frequency
3880.0 MHz, vertical polarization, audio monaural at 6.8 MHz.