Status Report

Mars Polar Lander Mission Status 2000-01-27

By SpaceRef Editor
January 27, 2000
Filed under

MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

PASADENA, CALIFORNIA 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

Radio scientists at California’s Stanford University are
continuing to process data from communications attempts made
yesterday and today to determine if they have picked up a signal
coming from Mars Polar Lander using their 45-meter (150-foot)
antenna.

There were three 30-minute communications windows yesterday
and three more listening windows today. It takes about 18 hours
to process the data from each window. So far, Stanford
scientists have looked at one of the three data sets taken
yesterday and say they have not detected anything unusual. It
will take several days to complete the processing and the
researchers do not expect to have confirmation of a signal until
some time next week.

“The signal we are looking for is very, very weak, about 1
watt of power — or like looking for a Christmas tree light on
Mars,” said Richard Cook, Polar Lander project manager at NASA’s
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. “Because of the
weakness of the signal, we want to be absolutely sure we have
something so we will check and double check these data before we
will be willing to confirm there is a signal.”

Mars Polar Lander is managed by the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C.
Lockheed Martin Astronautics Inc., Denver, Colo., is the agency’s
industrial partner for development and operation of the
spacecraft. JPL is a division of the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena.

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SpaceRef staff editor.