1998 MARS SURVEYOR PROJECT
STATUS REPORT
October 23, 1998
John McNamee
Mars Surveyor 98 Project Manager
Mars Climate Orbiter:
Orbiter launch processing activities are proceeding on schedule in the
Spacecraft Assembly and Encapsulation Facility (SAEF-2) at Kennedy Space
Center (KSC) with launch 48 days away. The flight Pyro Initiation Unit (PIU)
was removed from the orbiter and inspected for cracked glass body diodes and
excessive conformal coating. 19 cracked diodes and 180 conformal coating
defects were observed and rework activities are in process with reinstallation
on the orbiter planned for October 28. An electrical test unit was installed
in place of the flight PIU to allow the mission system test program to proceed
without interruption.
Mission system testing of the mapping phase was repeated successfully.
Flight software build 8.1 was delivered and
is in the process of being
loaded on the vehicle to support mission system testing of the launch
and initialization phase.
Build 8.1 is the final planned software delivery and contains all
functionality and fault protection required to conduct the entire
orbiter mission.
A full rehearsal of the orbiter countdown was conducted from vehicle
power up and health check at Launch -18 hours through a first opportunity
scrub and launch on the second opportunity. The orbiter was powered
during the test in actual launch configuration using software build 8.1
and behaved nominally throughout the rehearsal.
Mars Polar Lander:
Lander launch processing activities are proceeding on schedule in the
SAEF-2 facility at KSC with launch 72 days away. The reworked flight
Pyro Initiation Unit (PIU) was reinstalled on the lander and all
functions and interfaces were reverified successfully. This completes
the diode rework activities on the lander. The medium gain antenna,
flight batteries, and parachute cone assembly were installed. Thermal
enclosure closeout was completed and the landing radar was installed.
Rocket engine module functional testing was completed successfully. A
walkdown of the lander was conducted by an independent mechanical
expert to review/observe mechanical integrity and clearances prior to
aeroshell installation now scheduled for October 26.
Time Lapse Movie
Mars Surveyor 98 Spacecraft At
Kennedy Space Center
October 23, 1998
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Mars Climate Orbiter
MPEG Movie - 3.4 MB
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Mars Polar Lander
MPEG Movie - 2.1 MB
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