Jet Propulsion Laboratory UNIVERSE 
Pasadena, California - Vol. 26, No. 25 - December 13, 1996
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Delays aside, Pathfinder is on its way

By DIANE AINSWORTH
   Mars Pathfinder arced into a starlit sky, seemingly heading for a half-
moon close on the horizon and the reddish sparkle of Mars itself, during a 
crystal clear night on Dec. 4 at NASA's Cape Canaveral Air Station, Fla.
   Launch occurred right on the mark at 1:58 a.m. Eastern time (10:58 p.m. 
Pacific time on Dec. 3), sending the spacecraft on its way to Mars. The 
fiery blast of six of the Delta's nine boosters could be seen as they were 
jettisoned over the Atlantic Ocean, twinkling orange and yellow as they 
fell through the atmosphere. 
   Ten days after launch, the spacecraft is currently about 2.6 million 
kilometers (1.6 million miles) from Earth, traveling at a speed of about 
3.2 kilometers per second (7,155 mph). All spacecraft temperatures and 
electronics are performing at their expected levels for this early phase of 
the mission, said Brian Muirhead, Pathfinder flight system manager. The 
cruise stage solar array, propulsion module and electronics are also 
performing at just the right temperatures.
   Pathfinder is currently drawing power from two of the four segments of 
the solar array and producing approximately 250 watts of power, which is 
about 10 percent more power than was originally predicted. The battery is 
charged at 75 percent of its full capacity and is showing a temperature of 
9 Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit), which is approaching the desired steady 
state of 8 Celsius (46 degrees Fahrenheit). 
   In addition, the telecommunications system is performing well within its 
predicted range, indicating that it will be able to maintain higher data 
rates throughout the mission.
   A problem with one of the spacecraft's five sun sensors was resolved 
last week after a software patch was uplinked to compensate for a low 
voltage reading on one of the sensor heads, Muirhead said. The problem 
sensor was unit #4, which sits on the spacecraft's spin axis and became 
obscured or contaminated enough that its data were not usable. Unit #5, 
also located on the spin axis, was providing good sun orientation data, but 
at a lower voltage than was expected. The other three sensor heads are 
equally spaced along the cruise stage and were working fine.
   "The software modification allowed us to read the sun sensor's data, 
even though the output is lower than normal, and use the information to 
calculate the spacecraft's orientation in space," Muirhead said. "Once the 
problem was solved, we began to plan for our spin-down maneuver, which 
will reduce the spacecraft's spin rate from 12.3 rpm to 2 rpm." That 
maneuver was scheduled to take place on Friday, Dec. 13.
   Pathfinder's next scheduled in-flight event is the first trajectory 
correction maneuver, planned for Jan. 4, 1997. The latest orbital data from 
tracking operations at all three Deep Space Network stations suggest that 
the magnitude of TCM-1, if  performed on that day, will be 29.5 meters per 
second (96 feet per second).
   Mars Pathfinder, the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost, 
highly focused spaceflight missions, is expected to have a relatively quiet 
cruise to the red planet. In March 1997, the spacecraft will catch up and 
fly past Mars Global Surveyor on its faster track to the planet. If all 
goes well, landing and the first photographs of the Martian surface in more 
than 20 years will be delivered to an eager audience on Earth on July 4, 
1997. 
###
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Missions begin Earth's friendly invasion of Mars

By PAULA SHAWA, Kennedy Space Center
   On Oct. 30, Orson Welles fans marked the 58th anniversary of his theatre 
troupe's Halloween radio broadcast based on H.G. Wells' science fiction 
classic, "The War of the Worlds." The Mercury Theater's realistic depiction 
of a Martian invasion that begins in Grovers Mill, N.J., panicked the 
nation and catapulted Welles to international fame.
   As 1996 draws to a close, Planet Earth is turning the tables and 
launching its own "assault" on the Red Planet 81 million kilometers (50 
million miles) away, although in this case the visitors are friendly.
   Beginning with the Mars Global Surveyor liftoff Nov. 7 and continuing 
into the next century, spacecraft will sail toward the planet, sometimes 
passing each other en route. Once they arrive at Mars, some of these 
remotely-controlled explorers will circle the planet while others will 
pierce the thin Martian atmosphere and descend to its rugged surface. The 
bits and pieces of information they send back to Earth will be like pieces 
of a puzzle which  will yield a comprehensive picture of the planet, its 
daily weather and its early history.

Mars Global Surveyor
   First off the launch pad was Mars Global Surveyor, which is now 
speeding toward Mars. For people like MGS project manager Glenn 
Cunningham, the mission holds a special urgency: many of the same 
personnel who bore the shock of the Mars Observer failure in 1993 are 
now working on Global Surveyor. Six of the instruments flown on Mars 
Observer also are being flown on the Global Surveyor. 
   "We are really looking forward to this," Cunningham observes with quiet 
intensity. He points out that the Global Surveyor will have a nearly 
identical mission to Mars Observer: to map almost the entire surface of the 
planet. Major design changes have been made to prevent a propulsion 
system failure suspected to have ended the Mars Observer mission.
   The Global Surveyor will follow a loping, slow-moving trajectory to 
Mars. Because the spacecraft is traveling at a slower velocity, it requires 
less propellant to slow down once it is ready to be captured in orbit 
around the destination planet. The spacecraft should arrive at Mars on 
Sept. 12, 1997. A 25-minute engine burn will be combined with an innovative 
technique known as aerobraking, first demonstrated during the Magellan 
mission to Venus, to achieve a final mapping orbit an average 234 miles 
(378 kilometers) above the planet's surface.
   The primary mapping mission is scheduled to begin in March 1998 and 
last until January 2000-a period of one Martian year or 687 Earth days. 
Global Surveyor will complete one orbit around Mars about every two 
hours, each new orbit bringing the spacecraft over a different swath of 
terrain. The spacecraft will pass over the Mars Pathfinder lander, which 
will have touched down months before. The two Viking landers that 
arrived at Mars in 1975 also will be within the visibility range of the 
Global Surveyor instruments. 
   The Global Surveyor will map the topography, magnetism, mineral 
composition and atmosphere of Mars,  returning more than 600 billion bits 
of scientific data to Earth-more than that returned by all previous 
missions to Mars.

Mars Pathfinder
   The complex scenario for the Mars Pathfinder mission is like Russian 
dolls that can be opened to reveal another doll inside, a process that 
repeats itself several times before the last doll is uncovered.When if 
lifted off at 10:58 p.m. Pacific time on Dec. 3, Pathfinder's configuration 
was a lander encased in a protective aeroshell attached to a cruise stage. 
   Even though it lifted off nearly a month after  Global Surveyor, 
Pathfinder travels on a more direct trajectory to Mars, and will arrive on 
July 4, 1997. Thirty-four minutes before touchdown, the cruise stage will 
separate. As the lander hurtles through the upper atmosphere on a 
ballistic trajectory, a parachute will be deployed to slow the spacecraft 
and alter its flight path to a more vertical descent. About 20 seconds 
after the parachute deploys, the heat shield side of the aeroshell is 
jettisoned and the lander, still attached by a bridle to the back shell and 
parachute, will continue its descent. About eight seconds before touchdown, 
giant airbags are inflated. Just two seconds before touchdown the bridle 
will be severed while the motors are still firing to pull the backshell and 
parachute away from the lander. The lander's radar altimeter will begin 
acquiring ground data when the spacecraft is barely one mile (1.6 km) above 
the planet's surface.
   The dramatic sequence of events that unfold during entry, descent and 
landing constitute one of the riskiest phases of the mission, says 
Pathfinder Project Manager Tony Spear, and extensive preflight research was 
conducted to ensure success. The entry velocity is 80 percent faster than 
that of the Viking landers; and spacecraft speed at touchdown is 35 mph 
(56 kilometers per hour) for the Pathfinder lander (cushioned by the 
airbags) compared to 5 mph (8 kilometers per hour) for the Viking 
landers.
   Once on the surface, the tetrahedral-shaped lander will right itself and 
the lander petals will unfold.
   If everything proceeds as scheduled, just hours after landing the 
Sojourner rover will amble off the lander and onto the surface of Mars.
   The small six-wheeled rover weighs a mere 22 pounds (10 kilograms) 
and travels just 0.4 inches (1 centimeter) per second. 
   Images taken by the lander will determine the rover's course and 
direction. 
   The rover is equipped with an alpha proton X-ray spectrometer to 
measure the elemental composition of rocks and soil. The 12-color lander 
stereo camera will help to navigate the rover, provide mineralogy data on 
rocks and soil, and make opacity measurements of the atmosphere.
   This data provides a ground truth for the orbital remote-sensing 
observations being obtained overhead by Global Surveyor.
   The extreme temperature cycling on Mars-temperatures range from 32 
to minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to minus 100 degrees Centigrade) 
daily-may doom the rover to a relatively short life.      
   The primary mission for the rover is seven Martian days and about 30 
Martian days for the lander; scientists are hoping both will last long 
enough for extended mission operations. 
   While the Pathfinder mission is sure to yield invaluable scientific data 
about Mars, its designers are just as eager to see how the hardware 
performs.  
   In an extended mission, program managers will be monitoring the 
performance of both the rover and lander's solar arrays in the dusty 
environment as well as their electronics in the Martian temperatures.
   As the first wave of spacecraft to blaze a new trail to the Red Planet, 
Pathfinder and Global Surveyor will provide crosschecks and enrichment 
of the data gathered by each spacecraft.
   The scientific data they gather will further supplement that of earlier 
missions to Mars and set the stage for subsequent explorers. 
   At the same time, the lessons learned from hardware performance will 
help insure the success of future missions. 

Mars '96
   The Mars '96 mission was launched Nov. 16 from the Baikonur 
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan but encountered problems early in its mission. 
The last stage on a four-stage rocket failed to re-ignite and propel the 
probe out of Earth orbit and onto Mars. The probe crashed into the Pacific 
Ocean Nov. 17, about 900 miles east of Easter Island.
   The mission was designed to use two landers-known as small stations-
to separate from the Mars '96 spacecraft and descend to the planet's 
surface. Two penetrators were to have been deployed from the orbiter to 
actually pierce the Martian soil as much as 6 meters (20 feet) below the 
surface. The orbiter was to focus on performing orbital mapping and 
supporting operations on the ground.  
   Specific science goals included: A topographic survey of the surface, 
including high-resolution studies of the terrain and mineralogical mapping; 
studies of Martian meteorology and climate; geophysical studies of the 
planet's crustal thickness, magnetic field and seismic activity; plasma 
investigations, including parameters of the Martian magnetic field; and 
astrophysical studies.
   The small stations were designed to descend to the surface in a manner 
similar to the Mars Pathfinder lander, first braked by an aeroshell and 
then descending on a parachute. Also like the Pathfinder lander, the 
stations were to have been protected from the impact of landing by 
airbags. The scientific instruments of the small stations were enclosed in 
a protective structure that unfolded like the petals of a flower.
   The Mars '96 probe also included two torpedo-like penetrators that were 
designed to slam into Mars at speeds of 80100 meters per second (180
220 mph), lodging from 1 to 6 meters (3 to 20 feet) below the surface. 
Each probe contained equipment and sensors to study the geophysical and 
mechanical properties of Martian rocks. Data were to be relayed back to 
Earth via the orbiter circling above. The United States plans to send a 
pair of miniature probes, called the New Millennium microprobes, to Mars in 
1998. ###
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Mars missions follow new philosophy on NASA funding

By PAULA SHAWA, Kennedy Space Center
   The latest series of U.S. missions to the red planet exemplify NASA's 
"faster, better, cheaper" philosophy. 
   The successful Viking missions in the 1970s cost between $3 billion and 
$5 billion, while the more recent Mars Observer mission would have 
approached the $1 billion price range if it had been completed. The price 
tags for the Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Pathfinder missions seem 
almost austere by comparison:  $155 million for Surveyor and $171 million 
for Pathfinder.
   Smaller budgets create a ripple effect that leads to smaller spacecraft 
being launched atop smaller launch vehicles. At launch, MGS weighed 
about 1,060 kilograms (2,337 pounds) and Pathfinder just 890 kilograms 
(1,962 pounds).
   Mars Observer weighed almost 2,500 kilograms (5,500 pounds). The 
Titan III that carried the Observer aloft stood 45.7 meters (150 feet) 
tall, compared to the sturdy 38-meter (126-foot) Delta II used for both MGS 
and Pathfinder.
   Accommodating tight size and weight constraints presented special 
challenges to spacecraft and mission designers. For example, the Pathfinder 
small rover was launched in a compressed state measuring only 18 
centimeters (7 inches) tall. After landing, it will pop up to its full 
size-65 centimeters (2 feet) long, 48 centimeters (1.5 feet) wide by 30 
centimeters (1 foot) tall. The rover's weight was held to a svelte 10 
kilograms (22 pounds).
   On MGS, mission designers could accommodate only six of the eight 
instruments that first flew on Mars Observer; the remaining two must fly 
on later flights. Mass limits imposed by the lifting capabilities of the 
Delta II booster precluded the MGS spacecraft from carrying enough main 
engine propellant to achieve its final low-altitude mapping orbit with a 
single engine firing, so an innovative aerobraking technique was added. o
   By Jane Platt 
   A new computer-generated video visualization is giving planetary 
scientists a fresh look at the topsy-turvy rotation of the intriguing 
asteroid 
Toutatis, which flew near Earth on Nov. 29.
   Dr. Eric De Jong and animator Shigeru Suzuki of JPL, combined several 
computer simulation and scientific visualization techniques to show the 
bizarre rotation and surface details of Toutatis as it tumbles erratically 
on its journey around the Sun. The video includes images of Toutatis from 
various vantage points, including the perspective of someone standing on 
its surface. In addition, trajectories and explosive surface impacts are 
shown for a more typical near-Earth asteroid named Castalia. 
   The animation was created at the JPL Digital Image Animation 
Laboratory (DIAL) from a model based on a previous sequence of delay-
Doppler radar images. Those images were recorded at NASA's Deep Space 
Network 70-meter (230-foot) and 34-meter (112-foot) radio/radar 
antennas in Goldstone and the 305-meter (1,000-foot) Arecibo Radio 
Telescope in Puerto Rico. 
   "It's amazing that the shape of Toutatis can be determined so accurately 
from ground-based observations," De Jong said. "This technology will 
provide us with startling, close-up views of thousands of asteroids that 
orbit near the Earth." 
   Dr. Scott Hudson of Washington State University, Pullman, collaborated 
on the venture, along with scientists at NASA's Ames Research Center, 
Mountain View, Calif.
   "We used the computer to mathematically create a three-dimensional 
model of the surface and rotation of Toutatis," Hudson said. "It's as 
though we put a clay model in space and molded it until it matched the 
appearance of the actual asteroid."
   The video was of particular interest as Toutatis neared Earth and made 
its closest approach on Friday, Nov. 29, when it passed by at a distance of 
5.3 million kilometers (3.3 million miles), or about 14 times the distance 
from the Earth to the moon. In 2004, Toutatis will pass only four lunar 
distances from Earth, closer than any known Earth-approaching object is 
expected to pass by in the next 60 years. 
   However, "Toutatis poses no significant threat to Earth, at least for a 
few hundred years," according to JPL senior research scientist Dr. Steven 
Ostro, who observed Toutatis in 1992 and studied it again on Nov. 29 from 
Goldstone.
   Discovered in 1989 and named after a Celtic god, the asteroid Toutatis 
has dimensions of 4.6 by 2.4 by 1.9 kilometers (2.9 by 1.5 by 1.2 miles). 
It is considered one of the strangest bodies in the solar system, given its 
peculiar rotation and odd shape, which resembles two chunks of rock 
connected by a narrow neck-like structure. The rocky body's strange traits 
are believed to be the result of a history of violent collisions.
   Asteroids, sometimes known as minor planets, are small orbiting bodies 
composed of rock and metals. They hold special fascination for scientists 
because of their age, quantity and proximity to the Earth. Scientists 
estimate that there are more than 100,000 near-Earth asteroids larger 
than a football stadium.
   "The discovery that we live in an asteroid swarm is important for the 
future of humanity," said Ostro. "These leftover debris from planetary 
formation can teach us a good deal about the formation of our solar 
system. Asteroids also contain valuable minerals and many are the 
cheapest possible destinations for space missions."
   For example, a flyby of the asteroid McAuliffe is planned by the first 
flight mission in NASA's New Millennium program, which is designed to 
test and apply new technologies for future space science and Earth science 
missions. New Millennium is managed by JPL for NASA's Offices of Space 
Science and Mission to Planet Earth.
   In addition, NASA's Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) mission, 
launched in February 1996, is en route to the asteroid Eros, which it will 
orbit beginning in January 1999. 
   Additional information on Toutatis and other asteroids is available at 
the following websites: http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov and 
http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/ ~hudson/asteroids.html. ###
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Heroines and history well represented in worldwide competition to name 
rover

   The Sojourner rover could have been named Marie Curie.
   That was the second-place entry in a contest between students to name 
the compact vehicle scheduled to explore the surface of Mars.
   The name Sojourner was chosen after a yearlong worldwide competition 
in which students up to age 18 were invited to select a heroine and submit 
an essay about her historical accomplishments. The students were asked to 
address in their essays how a planetary rover named for their heroine 
would translate those accomplishments in the Martian environment.
   Valerie Ambroise, 12, of Bridgeport, Conn., submitted the winning essay 
about Sojourner Truth, an African American reformist who lived during 
the Civil War era. An abolitionist and champion of women's rights, Truth, 
whose real name was Isabella Van Wagener, made it her mission to "travel 
up and down the land," advocating the rights of all people to be free and 
the rights of women to participate fully in society. The name "Sojourner" 
was selected because it means "traveler."
   JPL scientists and engineers working on the Mars Pathfinder project and 
staff from the Planetary Society of Pasadena, who jointly initiated the 
contest in March 1994, reviewed the 3,500 essays received from around 
the world, including India, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Poland and Russia. 
Nearly 1,700 of the essays were submitted by students aged 5 to 18.  
   The second-place winner, Deepti Rohatgi, 18, of Rockville, Md., proposed 
naming the rover for Curie, a Polish-born chemist who won the Nobel Prize 
in 1911 for her discovery of the elements radium and polonium. ###
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Mystery of Mars evolves, lives on in popular culture

By CHUCK WEIRAUCH, Kennedy Space Center
   Portrayed throughout history as everything from a mythical god of war 
to the source of the destruction of the Earth many times over, Mars has 
survived the apprehensions of humankind to be transformed as a focal 
point of hope and exploration for the human race.
   Just why the Red Planet got off  to a bad start with Earthlings is a 
mystery, since four other planets were visible to the first astronomers, 
the Babylonians, in approximately 1000 BC. Perhaps its blood-reddish color, 
coupled with the early belief that one's fate was influenced by celestial 
events, convinced the Greeks and Romans to perceive the planet as a 
symbol of violence and fear. These sentiments were reflected as late as 
1719, when widespread panic broke out because, as a result of its 
elliptical orbit, Mars swung closer to Earth than it had in nearly 300 
years. 
   Unlikely though it seems today, astronomers played a major role in 
continuing the myth that unknown forces or entities lurked on the surface 
of Mars. Even though the Royal British astronomer Frederick Hershel 
correctly noted the polar ice caps and atmosphere of the Red Planet in 
1784, he believed that dark flat areas of the planet's surface were oceans. 
He also felt that all of the planets were inhabited.
   Some astronomers in the mid-19th century gave further impetus to the 
concept of life on Mars by speculating that the dark areas were covered by 
vegetation, while others published detailed maps of continents and oceans. 
In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schlaparelli unintentionally gave 
birth to the concept of Martian canals when he referred to streaks he 
observed on the surface as "canali," the Italian word for channels. 
   By the late 19th century, many scientists and authors already believed 
there was life on Mars. H.G. Wells' classic novel "War of the Worlds," 
published in 1898, became the first and most famous tale of a Martian 
invasion of Earth. 
   Famed astronomer Percival Lowell believed that Martians had built an 
intricate system of irrigation canals and produced a famous globe of this 
system in 1901 based on his observations. He also published "Mars and its 
Canals" in 1906 and "Mars as the Abode of  Life" in 1908. 
   Even though life was thought to be prevalent, observations of a dry 
climate and thin atmosphere indicated that whatever was alive must be in 
a desperate struggle to survive.  Edgar Rice Burroughs, better known as the 
creator of Tarzan of the Apes, incorporated this struggle into a series of 
11 novels begun in 1911 that featured a Civil War veteran hero who was 
transported to Mars to deal with a Martian race fighting for water. 
   In spite of growing evidence in the 1920s that conditions on the planet 
were even more tenuous for life as we know it, the Martian seeds had 
been firmly planted on Earth and continued to grow in the minds of  the 
public and the prose of early science fiction writers. With this type of 
literature gaining wider acceptance by the 1930s, it probably should have 
been no surprise that the 1938 radio broadcast of an adapted version of 
"The War of the Worlds" by Orson Welles was perceived as reality by more 
than a million people. 
   The possibility of life not only on Mars but throughout the universe 
became entrenched in world culture perhaps forever when an ex-Air Force 
pilot reported the sighting of unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, over 
the Arizona desert in 1947. Also that year, Dr. Wernher von  Braun revealed 
"Das Mars Projeckt," his proposed human expedition to Mars. His plan 
called for 10 ships and their crews to travel to, land on, and explore the 
fourth planet from the sun, then return to Earth within 520 days. He was 
also involved with the first NASA robotic missions to the Red Planet, the 
Mariner spacecraft.
   The hundreds of films, including such classics as "Invaders from Mars" 
in 1953, and thousands of science fiction novels featuring otherworldly 
creatures such as those in Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles" in 
1951, since that time have only served to reinforce the now-popular belief 
that life could have evolved just about anywhere.
   The 1996 television season, bolstered by 30 years of Star Trek and two 
continuing Star Trek shows, has more scheduled science-fiction-themed 
programming than ever before. Science-fiction movies, including last 
summer's "Independence Day," have become blockbusters, whole walls of 
book stores display science-fiction novels and millions of science-fiction 
videos and computer games are played in homes in the United States 
every night. At least one movie company is continuing the trend. Warner 
Brothers is about to debut its latest Mars thriller, titled "Mars Attacks!" 
###
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Regulations ensure visitors from Earth keep planets clean

By SUSAN WALSH, Kennedy Space Center
   It sounds like the plot of a B-grade science fiction movie.
   Microscopic organisms from Earth are carried on board a probe sent to 
explore the Martian surface and its geology. Despite the inhospitable 
climate-surface temperatures averaging minus 64 degrees Fahrenheit and 
an atmosphere almost entirely composed of carbon dioxide-a few of the 
organisms survive and begin multiplying. Soon, the Earth-borne spores 
taint all the geological samples and even find their way deep underneath 
the surface to ancient riverbeds where a primitive form of life still 
exists. The organisms from worlds apart join, and a new, alien form of life 
begins to evolve !
   Or,  how about this? 
   Thirty years after two Viking landers drop to the Martian surface and 
less than a decade after the Sojourner rover was left to explore an ancient 
Martian flood plain, a robotic spacecraft sent to pick up soil and rock 
samples from Mars returns to Earth covered by a mysterious green 
gelatinous material. A breach in containment  protocol leaves a technician 
unprotected to the foreign matter. Soon after, the technician and everyone 
he came in contact with begin to display symptoms of a new and 
debilitating disease !
   As farfetched as it sounds-and most scientists agree it could never 
happen-NASA is taking every precaution to make sure that nothing like 
either of those two scenarios ever has a chance of occurring.
   "We're taking a conservative approach," said Dr. Michael Meyer, NASA's 
planetary protection officer. "We don't view outbound or inbound 
contamination as a problem, but we're going to do the right things to 
protect against it. We have the means to prevent contamination and do it 
safely."
   Planetary protection regulations date back at least to the 1960s when 
the United States and other space-faring countries signed the United 
Nations' Treaty of Principles Governing the Activities of States in the 
Exploration and Use of Outer Space. Known as the Outer Space Treaty, the 
1967 document states that the exploration and studies of outer space 
including the moon and other celestial bodies be done "so as to avoid their 
harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the 
Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter  "
   NASA policy establishes basic procedures to prevent contamination of 
planetary bodies. Different requirements apply to different missions, 
depending on which solar system object is targeted and the spacecraft or 
mission type-flyby, orbiter, lander, sample-return, etc. There are no 
outbound (from Earth to celestial body) contamination requirements for 
the Sun, Moon and Mercury since those celestial bodies have no biological 
history and, therefore, presumably cannot be contaminated by Earth 
material.
   In the case of the recently launched Mars Global Surveyor, the NASA 
policy centers on an orbital lifetime requirement. Surveyor is designed to 
remain in orbit for at least 50 years before entering the Martian 
atmosphere. By then, any contaminants it may carry would be rendered 
harmless. Also, to ensure that the spent third stage of the launch vehicle 
flies safely past Mars, the launch trajectory is biased away from the 
planet.
   For the upcoming Mars Pathfinder mission, the cleanliness of the 
spacecraft is the primary concern. 
   Pathfinder's surfaces can contain only a maximum of about 250 spores 
per square yard (300 spores per square meter). The spacecraft was 
cleaned to a level consistent with the two Mars Viking landers in 1975 
before they were sterilized. 
   Dr. Meyer said that sterilization is no longer considered a requirement 
for spacecraft which land on Mars. In a 1992 report, the Space Studies 
Board concluded that there was no chance for an Earth organism to grow 
on the surface of Mars, but recommended that measures be taken to 
reduce the amount of matter which may be transported there and could 
contaminate any samples. 
   NASA now focuses its efforts on a continual cleaning of the spacecraft 
and monitoring of the spore count, reducing what's called the "bioburden."
   For the Pathfinder mission, the samples were taken by JPL scientists Dr. 
Wayne Shubert and Dr. Roger Kern. They processed the samples in NASA's 
Life Sciences Support Facility at Hangar L, Cape Canaveral Air Station. A 
three-person KSC/Bionetics team led by Rudy Puleo, manager of medical 
programs, was given samples at various intervals to verify the procedures 
and spore counts.  
   Throughout Mars Pathfinder processing, technicians continually cleaned 
the spacecraft and its components by wiping surfaces with an alcohol 
solution. Large areas, such as the airbags and parachute, were baked at 
about 50 hours at 230 degrees Fahrenheit (110 degrees Celsius). 
   With its record low spore count, "the Pathfinder will be the cleanest 
spacecraft we have sent to Mars," Dr. Meyer declared. Other anti-
contamination measures will be taken when NASA sends a robotic 
spacecraft to Mars on a sample return mission.
   Prevention of inbound contamination centers on quarantine measures, 
Dr. Meyer said. Although it is more important to ensure that the sample 
not contaminate Earth, steps also are taken to keep Earth from 
contaminating the sample.  If there was a problem with containment on 
the spacecraft, one of the possibilities would be to turn the spacecraft 
away from Earth and toward the Sun, where it could do no damage.  
   NASA is taking no chances, even though scientists dismiss the 
possibility that Earth could be infected by an organism from outer space, 
as depicted in "The Andromeda Strain" by Michael Crichton. "We've been 
exchanging material with the planets for a long time through meteorites, 
for example. If there is an andromeda-type thing out there, then it's 
already come to Earth," Meyer said. ###
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NASA's Discovery Program sets mark for future of low-cost missions

   The Mars Pathfinder mission is the second to be developed under NASA's 
Discovery Program, which emphasizes improved performance and lower 
cost through a series of management initiatives.
   In 1992 the Senate Appropriations Committee directed NASA to prepare 
a "plan to stimulate and develop small planetary or other space science 
projects, emphasizing those which could be accomplished by the academic 
or research communities."
   The goals of the Discovery Program are to increase flight rates, 
substantially reduce total mission cost, improve performance through the 
use of new technology, broaden university and industry participation in 
solar system exploration missions, and to increase public awareness of 
solar system exploration.
   Discovery missions are restricted to 36 months of development 
(consistent with many academic degree programs); will result in more 
spacecraft being built (providing opportunities for a larger number of 
industrial partners and small businesses); and must fall below a salary cap 
of $150 million for design and development and $35 million for data 
analysis. 
   The first two Discovery missions, the Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous 
(NEAR) which launched Feb. 17, and Pathfinder, were picked by NASA 
from concepts already under study when the program was being 
organized. The third mission, the Lunar Prospector, was selected in 
February 1995 and the fourth mission, Stardust, was selected in November 
1995. ###
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Rover driver dreams of putting pedal to metal

   About 10 minutes before Sojourner makes its first historic move toward 
the Red Planet's surface, the rover's primary driver, Brian Cooper, will 
give it the commands to do so from a lab at JPL.
   Cooper will don a set of 3-D goggles and, using a "space ball" instead 
of a computer mouse, will guide the rover's movements across an ancient 
flood plain. Two cameras mounted on the lander spacecraft will give Cooper 
the "stereo vision" necesary to navigate Sojourner.
   "It's more like virtual reality with delayed reaction than a remote 
control car," explains Cooper. "I see the landscape and a cursor that is a 
scale image of the rover in my goggles and I move the cursor at a snail's 
pace."  Any road hazards not detected by Cooper will be picked up by 
Sojourner's sensors and the rover has the option to deny an unsafe command.
   Cooper has worked for 11 years in JPL's rover program and designed 
much of the software and systems used on Sojourner's mission. "I'm 
excited about being the first person to drive on Mars, but this is an 
important geological mission and demonstrating this technology prepares 
us for longer missions in the future." ###
__________________________________________________________________

SIR-C/X-SAR unearths secrets of ancient Nile

By MARY HARDIN
   One of the many great mysteries of the Nile River may be solved with 
the discovery of an ancient river channel buried under layers of sand in 
the Sahara Desert in Africa.
   The buried river channel was revealed in images taken by the 
Spaceborne Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-
SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. The radar 
images were processed at JPL and the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD).
   "One of the things this discovery helps us examine is the origin of 
what's called the Great Bend of the Nile," said Dr. Bob Stern, a SIR-C 
science team member in the Programs in Geosciences division at the 
university. "The Nile generally flows due north, but in the Sudan it makes 
a huge, looping bend that is really remarkable because the river is flowing 
through the Sahara Desert, the largest, driest desert on the face of the 
Earth. 
   "There must be a very good reason for the river to make this great 
bend," Stern added. "Otherwise we would expect it to flow straight to the 
Mediterranean Sea." Instead, it bends southwestward and wanders 
through the Sahara for another 320 kilometers (200 miles) before 
resuming its northward course.
   "The discovery of the river channel shows us that probably sometime 
between 10,000 and 1 million years ago, the Nile was forced to abandon its 
bed and take up a new course to the south. This buried channel proves 
that this region has been tectonically active and shows us how this 
activity has forced the river to change its course," Stern said. 
"Understanding what controls the course of the Nile is a critical part of 
understanding the river's history and predicting its behavior, which is 
important because the river is essential to millions of people in Egypt, 
Sudan and Ethiopia."
   A scientific paper on the discovery-co-authored by Stern and UTD 
geologist Dr. Mohamed Gamal Abdelsalam-appeared in the Dec. 6 edition 
of Science magazine. The discovery grew out of research that the scientists 
have been doing on plate tectonics and the formation of a "supercontinent" 
more than 600 million years ago.
   "Our original experiment involved studying ancient structures in 
Precambrian rocks that formed where two supercontinents collided 
hundreds of millions of years ago," explained Stern. "In the course of our 
study, we became interested in how these structures influenced the course 
of the Nile."
   It was the tantalizing radar images of the area hidden beneath the sands 
of the Sahara that turned the scientists' work in a new direction.  
   "This discovery wouldn't have happened without SIR-C/X-SAR imagery," 
Stern noted. "Our work in northeast Africa would have been limited to 
what we could see on the ground or could be seen in satellite photographs. 
The radar is much more efficient in getting information from these sand-
covered areas because the radar waves are able to penetrate the sand. 
SIR-C/X-SAR imagery has revealed a huge piece of the Earth's surface-an 
area that's never been seriously explored before," he added.
   "This is one of the most exciting discoveries from the SIR-C/X-SAR 
mission to date," said Dr. Diane Evans, the SIR-C project scientist at JPL. 
"I expect we'll continue to be surprised by fascinating results like these 
as the science team continues to analyze the radar data. More and more we 
are finding the radar data have applications to answer questions about the 
Earth that were not originally anticipated." ###
__________________________________________________________________

New infrared camera proves good things come in small packages

By JANE PLATT
   JPL and an industrial partner have unveiled the world's smallest long-
wavelength infrared camera, a cutting-edge device with great promise for 
medicine and commerce.
   The palmcorder-sized camera, known as the Quantum Well Infrared 
Photodetector (QWIP) Infracam, was developed by JPL's Microdevices 
Laboratory in partnership with Inframetrics of Billerica, Mass., as a 
successor to the previous generation of hand-held QWIP cameras.
   "The new version of QWIP is four times lighter, has five times less 
volume and uses 10 times less power than the previous QWIP camera," 
said JPL technologist Dr. Sarath Gunapala, who helped develop the QWIP 
technology. "Because of its portability, low power requirements and high-
resolution infrared imaging, I envision a wide range of industrial, 
geologic, medical, law enforcement and military uses."
   Gunapala pointed out the QWIP Infracam may be useful for maintaining 
product quality control by detecting overheated parts and faulty welds. "It 
has great potential for surveillance, concealed weapon detection, medical 
imaging and observation of volcanoes and other phenomena on Earth," he 
said.
   The camera's commercial and safety potentials were also noted by 
Infracam's Vice President of Research and Development, Norm Stetson, 
who said, "The camera will be useful whenever heat is a symptom of a 
fault, such as a loose bolt in an electrical substation or a leak in a 
roof."
   The QWIP camera also has potential use for firefighters in locating 
hotspots and engaging in rescue missions. This application got a trial run 
during the October 1996 fires in the California beach community of Malibu. 
The previous generation QWIP camera enabled the crew of a KCAL-TV 
news helicopter to survey the fire scene and find lingering hotspots.
   The new, smaller camera weighs 1.1 kilograms (2.5 pounds), including 
the battery, viewfinder and a 50-millimeter focal length infrared lens. It 
can run for more than two hours on a standard camcorder battery.
   The camera features a large-area, long wavelength QWIP focal plane 
array, which gives it greater sensitivity, resolution and stability than 
previous infrared cameras. The array can detect infrared radiation in the 
8-to 9-micrometer (millionths of a meter) wavelength range. These 
wavelengths are 20 times longer, or lower in energy, than visible light. At 
these wavelengths, objects at room temperature glow the same way red-
hot objects glow when viewed by the naked eye.
   The new QWIP camera's focal plane array was developed at JPL, while 
Inframetrics built the anti-reflection coated germanium lens assembly, the 
camera body, the electronics and the cryogenic cooler, which runs at 71 
Kelvin (minus 326 degrees Fahrenheit). The camera utilizes the AE-166 
readout multiplexer, an electronic package which works in conjunction 
with the focal plane array. The multiplexer was developed by Amber, a 
subsidiary of Raytheon Co.
   Funding for the array was supported jointly by the Advanced 
Technology and Mission Studies Division of NASA's Office of Space Science, 
and the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization. Camera development was 
sponsored by the U.S. Army Night Vision Directorate. ###
__________________________________________________________________

New Mars screen saver available on-line

By DIANE AINSWORTH 
   A new computer screen saver made its debut earlier this month, showing 
the "Sojourner" rover, which was launched Dec. 4 on the Mars Pathfinder 
spacecraft, as it crisscrosses over or navigates around Martian boulders. 
   The screen saver display is free and available on the Internet for 
computer users with Windows 3.1 and '95 and Macintosh software. It can 
be downloaded by accessing the JPL Mars home page at 
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/mars/ 
   The software was designed by JPL as part of an effort to educate the 
public about the Mars Pathfinder mission and NASA's decade-long 
program of Mars exploration. It depicts the 60-centimeter (23-inch) long 
Sojourner microrover that will drive out onto the surface of Mars to 
explore the composition of rocks and soil in July 1997.
    Sojourner is able to hurdle small rocks and steer around those that are 
too large to scale. The rover features several innovative new technologies, 
including miniaturized electronics and a six-wheeled "rocker-bogie" 
suspension system that allows it to climb over rocks almost as tall as 
itself.
   The new screen saver also includes dramatic scenes of some geologically 
intriguing regions on Mars that will be photographed by the Mars Global 
Surveyor orbiter, which was launched on Nov. 7.
   Surveyor, which will reach Mars on Sept. 12, 1997, will orbit the planet 
for one full Martian year, the equivalent of 687 Earth days, taking new 
images of Mars and making scientific measurements of its atmosphere and 
surface. JPL's new screen saver sequence depicts various dramatic images 
of Mars, showing increasing detail of some prominent features such as a 
towering volcano called Olympus Mons and a huge canyon known as Valles 
Marineris. The closing sequence shows a Viking photograph of Pathfinder's 
targeted landing site on an ancient flood plain known as Areas Valles. 
   "The images of Mars were rendered here at JPL on our CRAY T3D parallel 
supercomputer," said Dr. Carl Kukkonen, manager of JPL's Supercomputing 
Project. "Scenes like this helped the Mars Exploration Program Office at 
JPL to determine the most ideal landing site for the Pathfinder mission."
   "This screen saver is another exciting tool that any Windows or 
Macintosh user can have to learn more about NASA's Mars exploration 
program," added Dr. Cheick Diarra, manager of the Mars Education and 
Public Outreach Office at JPL.
   The screen saver is available in the Windows 3.1, Windows '95 and 
Macintosh formats to computer users with any version of the "After Dark" 
screen saver software produced by Berkeley Systems, Inc. The screen 
saver was a joint effort of JPL andBerkeley Systems of Berkeley, Calif., 
developer of After Dark screen saver software, which can be downloaded 
from the Internet by using the following address: http://www.berksys.com 
   The Mars Exploration Program and the Supercomputing Project at JPL 
supported development of the new Mars exploration screen saver with 
funding from NASA's Office of Space Science. ###
__________________________________________________________________

Technology demo satellite ops transferred across Atlantic

By FRANKLIN O'DONNELL 
   Day-to-day routine orbital maintenance of two technology demonstration 
satellites has been transferred rapidly and inexpensively across the 
Atlantic from the United Kingdom to an American university, thanks to 
standards developed by an international program to which NASA was a 
major contributor. 
   The satellites, Space Technology Research Vehicle (STRV) 1a and 1b, 
were developed, built and are owned by the Defence Evaluation and 
Research Agency of the British Ministry of Defence. Responsibility for 
their 
routine maintenance has been delegated to the Laboratory for 
Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
   The transfer was accomplished within four months at a cost of less than 
$200,000, said Adrian J. Hooke, acting manager of NASA's Space Operations 
Standards Program at JPL, which facilitated the effort. 
   "This transfer was accomplished quickly and inexpensively thanks to 
protocols that standardize the way spacecraft and ground systems talk to 
each other," Hooke said. "These new capabilities drastically lower the cost 
of integrating, testing and operating spacecraft."
   Launched in 1994, the two STRV satellites carry an international suite 
of 
experiments studying the space environment near Earth. The satellites are 
in highly elliptical orbits that take them from 300 to 36,000 kilometers 
(185 to 22,300 miles) above Earth, passing through zones of high radiation. 
Data acquisition from the STRV spacecraft has been enhanced for much of 
their mission with tracking support from NASA' s Deep Space Network. 
   Before the hand-off, the STRVs were used early in 1996 to flight-test a 
suite of new operations protocols currently in development that 
standardize file transfer, transport, security and network issues in the 
communications link between the satellites and ground. "In essence, the 
new way of communicating with spacecraft will look a lot like the 
Internet," Hooke said. "You will be able to transfer files to and from the 
spacecraft just as you do on the Internet using what is known as file 
transfer protocol (FTP) and the transmission control protocol (TCP)."
   After operating the satellites for two years, the British Defence 
Research Agency this year needed to close its ground station at Lasham, 
England, for refurbishment in preparation for the planned 1999 launch of 
the next two STRVs. JPL suggested the operational transfer of the STRV 
satellites to the University of Colorado as a demonstration of the new 
international interoperability standards and as a way to both continue 
their scientific missions and also to use them as "flying testbeds" for new 
standards technologies. 
   Key among the protocols that eased the transition are new telemetry and 
telecommand interfaces between both spacecraft and ground systems that 
conform to standards developed by the international Consultative 
Committee for Space Data Systems. 
   "Packetized telemetry and telecommand standards are the 
underpinnings of all space missions from here on out," Hooke said. "You 
will see then on low Earth orbiters, planetary spacecraft like Cassini, the 
international space station-they are becoming the universal way of 
communicating with spacecraft."
   Hooke said that the effort marked the first time responsibility for 
routine orbital maintenance of satellites had been delegated across 
national borders to a university. The British Defense Research Agency 
retains full ownership and executive control of the STRV satellites and 
will determine their final disposition at the end of their lifetimes. 
   The cooperative effort-which included the involvement of NASA 
Headquarters, the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center and the 
U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense Organization-also marks the beginning of a 
new era in which NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense hope to realize 
large cost savings by using strategic joint standardization in order to 
greatly increase the level of commonality and interoperability across the 
U.S. civil and military space programs. 
   JPL manages the Space Operations Standards Program for NASA's Office 
of Space Flight. ###
__________________________________________________________________

JPLer dons heavy gear at KSC

   Lorraine Garcia of the Quality Assurance Office 506 recently became the 
first female JPL employee to participate in a spacecraft fueling operation 
at  Kennedy Space Center when she performed a vital job for Pathfinder, one 
which prepared the filling of the spacecraft's flight system about a month 
prior to launch.
   A stress tradmill test and other strenuous physical exams prepared her 
for putting on and wearing heavy protective apparatus called a self 
contained atmosphere protective ensemble (SCAPE) suit, as well as the 
fueling operation itself.
   "I was excited to learn that I'm the first woman to do this," Garcia 
said. "I figured that if the men can do it, so can I."
   The fire-resistant suit weighs about 10.5 kilograms (23 pounds) and 
provides protection against propellant vapors or liquid spills. KSC 
regulations require that the maximum time allowed in the suit is four 
hours, requiring her to change out of the suit and put it back on several 
times.
   ""It was very tiring and draining to the body," Garcia said. "It was 
unbearable at times, but I was able to calm myself.
   "I'd like to do it again, if I had the opportunity," she said. "All in 
all, it 
went really smoothly." ###
__________________________________________________________________

IBS, NBS debut training facility

By CAROL GUERERRO, NBS communications team and ERIC KURTZ, IBS 
training team
   With the ceremonial snip of a ribbon, JPL's Institutional Business 
Systems (IBS) Division and New Business Solutions (NBS) Project unveiled 
their new state-of-the-art training facility Dec. 6 at the facility in 
Building 602 on Woodbury Road. 
   Following the ribbon-cutting by IBS Manager Pandora Ovanessian and 
NBS Manager Patricia Monaghan, an open house featured tours of the 
facility's training and server rooms, demonstrations of training videos and 
computer-based training, Oracle application demos and training 
information booths operated by partnering training providers, including 
Oracle Education, Learning Tree International, Sun Education and the JPL 
Training and Education Consortium. Approximately 150 people from IBS, 
NBS and JPL user organizations attended the event.
   The training facility consists of a classroom with 12 student 
workstations, an instructor workstation connected to a ceiling-mounted 
projector, a television and video cassette player, and seating for 24 
students. Adjacent to the classroom is a separate room for computer-based 
training.
   NBS information technology manager David Werntz showed guests the 
server room in Building 600, which houses five new Sun servers:  two are 
Sun 5000s and three are Sun 3000s. Currently, only one of these servers is 
fully functional in support of the training facility.
   The new training facility and server room will support JPL's transition 
from the current mainframe-based Dunn & Bradstreet McCormick and 
Dodge business systems, formerly known as MASS, to client/server 
technology and Oracle  business applications. Both are currently being used 
to educate NBS personnel about Oracle application capabilities; this in 
turn will ensure that the reengineering of JPL's business processes is 
consistent with Oracle applications. Technical training is also currently 
being provided to IBS and NBS personnel who will be responsible for 
supporting the new applications and systems. As implementation approaches 
in fiscal year 1998, training will be rolled out to users Labwide.
   The IBS and NBS training effort is being led by the IBS training team, 
which includes Theresa Armstrong, Cherie Bartlett, Melanie Bentley-Smith 
and Eric Kurtz and is supervised by Acquisition and Information Systems 
Manager Robert Barge. In addition to supporting the transition to Oracle 
applications and technology, the IBS training team continues to support IBS 
legacy application training, which includes Services and Acquisition 
Systems (SAS) and Resource Information Systems (RIS) training. The team 
is also actively involved in JPL's Education and Training Consortium along 
with Computer Education, Safety, Acquisition, and Professional 
Development. ###
__________________________________________________________________

Call nears for 1997 TQM medallion award nominations

   TQM Medallion Awards are now being conferred to recognize the JPL 
teams and individuals who substantively improve existing JPL work 
processes.
   The Bronze Medallion Upgrade Award is for teams or individuals who 
make sustained improvements (e.g., eliminating unnecessary steps or 
obsolete rules) with a cumulative effect of enhancing the overall process 
quality.
   The Silver Medallion Innovation Award is for teams or individuals 
applying tools and techniques (e.g., labor-intensive actions brought under 
software control) that improve a process in ways producing higher quality 
products or services.  
   The Gold Medallion Redesign Award is for teams or individuals who 
redesign a process (e.g., telephone services) and by so doing cause the 
process to deliver superior quality products or services. 
   TQM Medallion Awards are conferred twice each year and are presented 
to those so recognized by the JPL Director Dr. Edward Stone or Deputy 
Director Larry Dumas, accompanied by directors of organizations to which 
nominees are assigned and by TQM Administrator Susan Stephenson who, 
together with the directors of nominee organizations, selects and 
recommends nominations for TQM awards to Stone.
   Any JPL team or individual who makes, measures and reports successful 
improvements of an existing JPL work process can be nominated for a TQM 
Medallion Award and is welcome to self-nominate. The submittals should 
include the following information:
   - Process identity (what is the work that is being performed?).
   - Previous state of the process (sketch the old steps for performing 
work; show in the sketch how the original work activities were linked 
together).
   - Improvements made (what changed in the ways this work was done?).
   - Who made the changes (list names and JPL addresses of everyone who 
actually carried out the improvements. Team nominations must include 
JPL participants and can include contractor participants).
   - Current state of the process (sketch the new steps for performing 
work; show in the sketch how changed work activities are now linked 
together).
   - Metrics attesting to improvement (what tells you the process 
improved? Measurement of results might be customer feedback, cost 
reductions, time saved, the number of items produced, or requirements 
serviced, etc.).
   The first 1997 TQM Medallion Award nominations are due Jan. 10. Mail 
submittals to Stephenson,  Bldg. 180-505; e-mail to Stephenson, Susan N @ 
JPL-DIV30; or fax to 3-0085. TQM Awardwinning teams and/or 
individuals will be announced Feb. 10, 1997. ###
__________________________________________________________________

Committee will review Award for Excellence nominations in January

   A selection committee has been named to review nominations and select 
award recipients for the upcoming Award for Excellence. 
   The 10-member committee consists of at least one delegate from each 
JPL organization and represents the Lab's diverse population, said Reward 
and Recognition Administrator Monica Garcia.
   The committee includes Edward Ng (program manager, Section 171); 
Barbara Carter (technical manager, Section 215); Marjorie Burris 
(administrative secretary, Section 392); Gerald Hintz (technical manager, 
Section 312); Craig Sholes (staff assistant, Section 480); Kirk Barrow 
(member of the technical staff, Section 516); Mary Helen Ruiz 
(administrative assistant, Section 625); David Swenson (member of the 
technical staff, Section 664); Carol Fisher (administrative assistant, 
Section 880); and Patrick Beyer (member of the technical staff, Section 
920).
   "The Award for Excellence is an employee-owned program that promotes 
nominations from all JPL employees," Garcia said. "The call for nominations 
for this cash award will begin Jan. 13 and continue for three weeks."
   Garcia added that during the nomination period, JPL employees can 
nominate any other Lab employee for an award, which consists of four 
categories: technical excellence, business operations excellence, 
exceptional quality and exceptional leadership.
   The award ceremony will be held in April 1997.
   Garcia said all employees will receive notification about the program 
during the second week of January. For more information, call her at ext. 
4-3825 or visit the program's home page at http://epic/sec614/ 
reward/rr.htm. ###
__________________________________________________________________

News briefs

   Dr. John Trauger, principal investigator for JPL's Wide Field Planetary 
Camera 2, has been named winner of the 1997 Harold Masursky Award for 
meritorious service to planetary science.
   The honor is awarded by the American Astronomical Society's Division of 
Planetary Sciences, and recognizes and honors individuals who have 
rendered outstanding service to planetary science and exploration through 
engineering, managerial, programmatic or public service activities.
   This is the first time a JPL employee has been awarded any Division of 
Planetary Sciences prize. ###

   The winners of JPL's Notable Organizational Value-Added (NOVA) 
Awards for November have been announced:
   Section 195: Richard Hann, Linda Rogers, Joy Young.
   Section 353: Carl Engelbrecht,  Sylvia Rivera, Glenn Tsuyuki.
   Section 391: Nancy Feagans, Tanisha Smith. 
   Section 627: Karen Maskew. ###

   The Caltech Jazz and Concert Bands are seeking musicians who play the 
French horn and trombone. Those interested can call music director Bill 
Bing at (213) 684-8964. ###
   
   The Caltech Architectural Tour Service will resume its schedule of 
architectural tours of the campus on Jan. 23.
   Although no tour was scheduled for December, they are normally held on 
the fourth Thursday of each month at 11 a.m. Tours last about one and a 
half hours and are open to the public.
   For reservations, call Susan Lee at (818) 395-6327. ###
__________________________________________________________________

Base pay program Web site on line

   A World Wide Web site for JPL's new Base Pay Program is now available 
for employees. The site provides access to basic information about the 
program; additional information will be added in the coming weeks.
   The address:  http://epic/hr/ Compensation/bphome2.htm. The address 
is case-sensitive. ###
__________________________________________________________________

Credits

   This issue of Universe is partially adapted from a recently released 
special edition of the Kennedy Space Center's Spaceport News. 
   Special thanks go to members of the Sherikon writers group at KSC who 
contributed to this issue, particularly Spaceport News managing editor 
Barb Compton. ###
__________________________________________________________________

Universe

Editor, Mark Whalen 
Photos, JPL Photo Lab

Universe is published every other Friday by the Public Affairs Office of 
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak 
Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109.