From: Jan Wee <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>
Subject: Mars Global Surveyor's BIG DAY--THURSDAY, SEPT 11th -- ORBIT
Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 22:08:22 -0500
Dear discuss-lfm members, This week (especially tomorrow) will prove to be another historical week for NASA and the Mars Missions... be sure to keep your students involved and simultaneously prepare them for the two upcoming LFM telecasts (October 30th and November 13, 1997, 13:00-14:00 Eastern) by participating in: >>>MGS INSERTION SET FOR TOMORROW! JOIN THE FUN! Like the excitement preceding the landing of Mars Pathfinder, we suspect the MGS Team will have a hard time relaxing, sleeping, or eating in the next 24 hours! With orbit insertion set for tomorrow at 6PM Pacific time and all systems GO we hope to >>>celebrate with the team<<< in our own unique cyberspace way! Let's assume success and plan on sending the MGS Team our LFM *CONGRATULATORY* messages during the coming week. If all goes as planned (and it does look MIGHTY GOOD for a successful insertion), please have your students COMPOSE their unique message (group or individual) sharing their impressions, enthusiasm, appreciation for the work of the MARS MISSION TEAM members and their fabulous Mars exploration feats! Be creative! -- poetry, digital art, journal writing, their own lyrics... are all but a few suggestions. Send these by Friday, September 19th! In the subject be sure to label: MGS CONGRATS from _____ (school/teacher/location) and send to <jwee@mail.arc.nasa.gov>. NEED MORE TIME or PREFER HARD COPY CONGRATS... If you/your class prefer to create offline using specially constructed, hand-made products, package your "treasures" and send to: Passport to Knowledge P.O. Box 1502 Summit, NJ 07902-1502 PTK staff will see to it that your contribution arrives safely at NASA JPL in Pasadena, California! (PTK vets: This brings back memories the Clyde Tombaugh 90th birthday celebration, part of the Live From the Hubble Space Telescope project!) This activity would be especially meaningful if you have students learn more about the Mars Team via our collection of online Journals/Biographies found on the LFM web site at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/team/index.html You will find many intriguing journals focusing on the MGS team members (and Pathfinder team, of course) as well as a very special insider's view of the MGS pre-orbit jitters shared by Phil Christensen explaining why he lies awake at night! Suggestion: download and print these resources and share them in class or have teams of students go online with the goal of reporting their discoveries about the MGS Team. You can also better prepare yourself and your students by visiting the MGS web site at http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/ and tapping the wealth of resources (Hot News, Mission Status, FAQ, Movies/Pics, simulations, etc.). >>>>OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR AND SEE NASA-TV COVERAGE OF MGS INSERTION! Don't forget that LFM (thanks to Alan Federman, webmaster) is providing links to tomorrow's NASA TV coverage via REAL AUDIO and REAL VIDEO! Details at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/video/hot.html indicate that coverage begins at 5PM Pacific time and will continue through 8PM Pacific. You need the RealPlayer (links to download site available) and 14.4 modem for RealAudio and 28.8 modem for RealVideo. What a great way to test drive your new Internet connection, new modem, new fun audio/video applications! Please give your feedback to Alan as this is a test of this new multi-media resource/opportunity and your input is valued. Send feedback message to federman@quest.arc.nasa.gov There will be a capacity of 50 connections for RealVideo and 150 connections for RealAudio! Join the excitement!! >>>>MGS FLIGHT STATUS REPORT (EXCERT -- FOR MORE GO TO: http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/status/reports/current.html) Flight Status Report Wednesday, 10 September 1997 Tomorrow, Surveyor will arrive at Mars after a 10-month voyage from its Cape Canaveral launch site. Currently, the spacecraft is 300,000 km from the Red Planet. This distance, less than that between the Earth and Moon, is shrinking at a rate of 2,930 meters per second. Project manager Glenn Cunningham reports that "everything is picture perfect" with respect to preparations both on the ground and on the spacecraft for tomorrow's orbit insertion burn. After yesterday's successful propellant pressurization, tank pressures are holding steady at 276 pounds per square inch, and spacecraft temperatures are normal. The orbit insertion burn will start at 6:31 p.m. PDT Thursday evening and will last for about 22 minutes. During that time, Surveyor's main rocket engine will expend nearly 280 kilograms of propellant to slow the spacecraft's velocity by 973 meters per second.... Looking forward to tomorrow's orbit insertion and thinking good thoughts for MGS and the Mars Team! Jan Wee, moderator