QUESTION:
My question is concerning the preparation of this mission.  Between the
launch date and now, what technologies have emerged which could have been
beneficial to the project.  To be more specific, we have the capability now
to send and receive data much faster than we did. I'm sure this was forseen
then, but could the system have been designed to accomodate a faster
communications system?  I am curious about the mechanics and internal
designing of the project as a whole.  Any information you are able to
provide will be appreciated.

ANSWER from Tim Gallagher on July 23, 1997:
Speaking from the IMP Camera electronics design standpoint there are a
couple of new technologies that could have been beneficial to the project.

One is the development of a radiation hardened (rad-hard) field-programmable
gate array (FPGA) from Loral which is identical to the one I used in the
original design.  However the one I used was not rad-hard which means that
it is more susceptible to high-energy particles - occasionally the camera
power may need to be turned on and off to account for this.

Larger memory chips are now available (also rad-hard) which could store more
pixels or pictures.

CCD technology has improved but the camera currently being used is just fine
for what it is doing.

When dealing with communication improvements the question really is how much
bandwidth and download time is acceptable - then the system is sized from
there.  Questions concerning link availability with Earth ground systems and
contact durations to Mars are also important considerations.  There are many
concerns with a more complex and higher power comm system - power, weight,
reliability (more power usually equates to a shorter life span), cost, and
development time.  Of course a faster comm system could have been designed
but is it necessary?