1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT STATUS REPORT May 29, 1998 John McNamee Mars Surveyor 98 Project Manager Orbiter integration and test activities are proceeding on schedule. Sequence Verification Tests of the Launch/Initialization phase and the mapping phase which involved the execution of the flight mapping sequences were completed successfully. Troubleshooting of the various Pressure Modulator InfraRed Radiometer (PMIRR) anomalies continues and much progress has been made in resolving these problems. None of the PMIRR problems appear to be major obstacles to the launch of the orbiter. Lander Mission System Test #5 involving the Cruise/Trajectory Correction Maneuver phases was completed successfully. Integration and test preliminary replanning due to the lander system failure in cruise configuration thermal vacuum testing is complete. The lander was moved from the chamber to the high bay on May 29 and planned separation/deployment tests will be conducted over the next two weeks. The separation tests will be followed by modifications to the thermal control subsystem to correct design and operational deficiencies. Early analysis indicates that the design modifications may be as simple as disabling the capillary pump loop heat pipe and using a completely passive thermal control approach for all mission phases. Landed configuration thermal balance and cruise configuration thermal vacuum testing will follow the design modifications. Additional planning work is required to recover an acceptable level of pre-ship schedule margin given the large amount of work required to get the lander ready for launch.

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