Mars Global Surveyor Status Report 18 Jul 2001

Wednesday, July 18, 2001 (DOY 192/19:00:00 to DOY
199/19:00:00 UTC)

Launch / Days since Launch = Nov. 7, 1996 / 1715 days

Start of Mapping / Days since Start of Mapping = April 1,
1999 / 839 days

Total Mapping Orbits = 10,556

Total Orbits = 12,239

Recent Events:

Background Sequences – The spacecraft is operating
nominally in performing daily recording and transmission
of science data. The mm150 sequence has performed well
since it started on 01-172 (6/21/01). It terminates on
01-199 (7/18/01). The mm151 sequence, successfully
uplinked on 01-197 (7/16/01), begins executing on 01-200
(7/19/01).

Other – Dust storms spreading across the planet are
making narrow angle photographic imaging of Mars
impracticable. Therefore, ROTO operations remain
suspended until the global dust storms subside. MGS has
completed 155 ROTOs to date.

An in-flight MOLA diagnostic test (MZ115) was performed
on 01-195 (7/14/01) to gain some insight into the MOLA
anomaly reported last week. Unfortunately, the MOLA
instrument did not assume normal operation, but the data
indicate that the MOLA computer is working and that the
instrument responds to commanding. We expect further
diagnostic testing following the MOLA team’s analyses of
the most recent data.

Spacecraft Health:

All subsystems report good health and status except for
the MOLA payload instrument that malfunctioned on 01-181
(6/30/01). The MOLA instrument team is still
investigating the anomaly.

Uplinks:

There have been 13 uplinks to the spacecraft during the
past week, including new star catalogs and ephemeris
files, instrument command loads, the MM151 background
sequence, and the MZ115 MOLA diagnostic test. 5,500
command files have been radiated to the spacecraft since
launch.

Upcoming Events:

A Bistatic Radar experiment is planned for 01-217
(8/5/01). The first of several Delta-DOR experiments will
take place on 01-236 (8/24/01).