Prepared by Mars Surveyor Operations Project Manager
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Mars Global Surveyor

Mars Global Surveyor has begun the walk-out phase of aerobraking. This process was triggered by the apoapsis altitude reaching 1000 km, and consists of 4 small propulsive maneuvers (~1 m/s) conducted approximately every 24 hours to maintain an orbital lifetime of greater than 48 hours while the orbital period approaches 2 hours. The drag passes are occurring over the south polar areas where the atmospheric conditions are quite variable. This will cause some variability in the timing of the maneuvers. At this writing the final termination maneuver (~61 m/s) will occur mid-day on Wednesday, February 3rd. The magnetometer/electron reflectometer instrument as been turned off as planned. The spacecraft continues to be in excellent health.

Mars Climate Orbiter

Mars Climate Orbiter continues in quiet cruise mode with nothing significant to report.

Mars Polar Lander

Mars Polar Lander conducted a set of spacecraft turns to characterize the effects of different sun lighting conditions on the performance of it's star cameras. This data will be used to select spacecraft orientations that will provide for more reliable star camera operation. The spacecraft continues in excellent health.