QUESTION:
What part is Australia playing in is historical event, and why was't it made
know on CNN?

ANSWER from Donna Shirley on July 23, 1997:
Australia (Canberra) is the location of part of the Deep Space Network that
communicates with the Pathfinder spacecraft.  It wasn't made known because
it isn't really part of the Pathfinder mission, because we weren't
communicating via Canberra on July 4 and 5, and because we couldn't
individually mention the thousands of elements connected with Pathfinder.

Donna Shirley