PART 1: No update next week
PART 2: New data added to Weather Worlds site
PART 3: Submit your kids' pictures/info for sharing online
PART 4: "Today on Mars" now available on tape
PART 5: Mars Global Surveyor Mission Status
PART 6: Subscribing & Unsubscribing: How to do it!

NO UPDATE NEXT WEEK

The Thanksgiving holiday will be celebrated in the U.S. next week and due
to the shortened work week updates-lfm will not be published.

NEW DATA ADDED TO WEATHER WORLDS SITE

If you haven't stopped by the site recently, or if you haven't yet signed
up, be sure to go to the Weather Worlds activities page at:
http://passporttoknowledge.com/lfm/events/wwindex.html

In addition to the new easy-to-read index, you will find a description of
Pathfinder as a Martian weather station and real Pathfinder atmospheric
data submitted by meteorologist Jim Murphy. 

Students from around the country have been collecting real-time data in
their own backyards, which will also be posted online early next week.

SUBMIT YOUR KIDS' PICTURES/INFO FOR SHARING ONLINE

By now you must have a nice collection of images of your students at work,
their writing and artwork. How about submitting them for posting in the
LFM Kids' Corner?

Directions for submitting photos and text can be found at:
http://passporttoknowledge.com/lfm/events/posting.html

If you have questions on how to submit send email to:
sandy@quest.arc.nasa.gov

Be sure to include a text overview of the work you send.

"TODAY ON MARS" NOW AVAILABLE ON TAPE

The final Live From Mars broadcast "Today on Mars" that aired November 13
is now available on tape. To order a VHS copy send a check, money order or
purchase order for $19.95 made out to Passport to Knowledge at:

Passport to Knowledge
P.O. Box 1502
Summit, NJ 07902-1502

Price includes shipping and handling.

MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR FLIGHT STATUS REPORT

[Editor's note: Status report prepared by Office of the Flight Operations
Manager, Mars Surveyor Operations Project, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory]

Friday, November 14, 1997

Operations on the Mars Global Surveyor mission continue to proceed
smoothly one week after the resumption of aerobraking. This week, the
flight team performed several small thruster firings to gradually drop the
low point of the orbit back into the upper fringes of the Martian
atmosphere.

Currently, the low point of the orbit lies at an altitude of 77.3 miles
(124.4 km). Friday night, at the high point of orbit #41, Surveyor will
perform another thruster firing to slow down and lower the low point of
the orbit by another four kilometers. The new low point altitude will
cause the spacecraft to experience an air resistance force of 0.21 Newtons
per square meter on every subsequent aerobraking pass.

This amount of force is approximately one-third as strong as that proposed
by the original plan, and is nearly equal to the average force as
prescribed by the new mission plan. To put these force values in
perspective, chief navigator Dr. Pat Esposito estimates that the orbit
period will shrink at a rate of about 24 minutes per revolution as a
result of flying through the atmosphere.

After a mission-elapsed time of 372 days from launch, Surveyor is 183.58
million miles (295.44 million kilometers) from the Earth and in an orbit
around Mars with a high point of 27,578 miles (44,383 km), a low point of
77.3 miles (124.4 km), and a period of 34.8 hours. The spacecraft is
currently executing the P41 command sequence, and all systems continue to
perform as expected. The next status report will be released on Wednesday,
November 26. 

SUBSCRIBING & UNSUBSCRIBING: HOW TO DO IT!

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