NOTE: No further updates regarding the Mars Pathfinder mission will be posted here. For more information regarding this highly successful mission, please follow the reference links provided below.

As of the 28 Oct, 1998 Mars Global Surveyor Project Status Report Overview; Spacecraft operations continue successful aerobraking activities. About 15 minutes have been removed from the orbit period over the last 6 passes.

In April of 1999, MGS should complete its aerobraking and begin mapping the planet in detail.

Dark lines running for miles across the Martian surface are appearing in certain high resolution images provided by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera system.

These dark lines are believed to be caused by "Dust Devils" as they move across the surface picking up dust.

See the dark lanes on the Malin Space Science Systems' 30 July 98 release.

Also, Check out the images of the Martian moon, Phobos, which the Mars Global Surveyor acquired in August.

This image of Phobos was acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor on August 19, 1998. The image covers an area of approximately 8.2 km (5.1 mi) wide by 12 km (7.5 mi) and has a resolution of about 12 meters (40 feet) per picture element, or "pixel".

19981029-JW & GS

According to the "NEAR WEEKLY REPORT" of October 2, 1998, "The NEAR spacecraft state/configuration has remained nominal..."

NEAR's study of Eros will be the first in-depth examination of a near-Earth asteroid and is expected to yield information that will help scientists better understand the evolution of our solar system. NEAR is the first mission of NASA's "Discovery" series.

19981031-GS

"The Lunar Prospector spacecraft continues to perform very well."
Oct 9, 1998 Lunar Prospector Status Report

Give yourself an education and check out the way cool Lunar Prospector "Data Viz" data visualization page.

See the CNN SCI-TECH article on Lunar Prospector's ice discovery at: CNN SCI-TECH Space - 05 March 1998 - Scientist: There is ice on the moon

For more information about ice on the Moon, check out the "Planetary Science Research Discoveries" article "Ice on the Bone Dry Moon" by Dr. Paul D. Spudis.

19981031-GS

As of the Sept. 4, 1998 Cassini Mission Status Report, "The Cassini spacecraft remains in excellent health on its voyage to Saturn. Spacecraft operations have been normal with most tasks focused on routine maintenance activities. "

The Cassini spacecraft will arriving on orbit around Saturn in 2004. Cassini will study the great ringed planet, its moons and ring system for at least four years. It will also deliver a scientific probe called Huygens which will parachute to the surface of Saturn's largest moon, Titan.

19981031-GS

The Planet-B Mars probe was successfully launched on July 3, 1998. The launch took off from the Kagoshima space center in Japan and placed the Planet-B spacecraft in parking orbit around earth. Renamed Nozomi (Hope) after launch, Nozomi is the first Japanese space mission to Mars. It is also the first non-U.S. or Russian space flight to another body in the solar system.

A Mars orbiting aeronomy mission, Nozomi is designed to study the martian upper atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. Instruments on the spacecraft will measure the structure, composition and dynamics of the ionosphere, aeronomy effects of the solar wind, the escape of atmospheric constituents, the structure of the magnetosphere, and dust in the upper atmosphere and in orbit around Mars. The mission will also be returning images of Mars' surface and the martian moons Phobos and Deimos.

NASA announced on July 1,1998 that two U.S. instruments will fly aboard Planet-B. A neutral mass spectrometer (NMS) will allow chemical analysis of the upper atmosphere on a planet wide scale. An Ultra Stable Oscillator is part of a radio science experiment and will help guide the craft through its super accurate clock.

Following the launch July 3,1998 on Japan's new 4 stage rocket, the M-5, from Kagoshima in southern Japan, the $80 million probe will initially be put into an elliptical parking orbit around the moon. After 2 swingbys of the Earth to gain gravitaional energy the spacecraft will slingshot to Mars for a 10 month voyage.

In October 1999, Nozomi will be inserted into a highly eccentric Mars orbit 300 km x 47,500 km with an inclination of 138 degrees and a period of just over 38 hours.

The nominal mission is planned for one Martian year (approximately two Earth years). An extended mission may allow operation of the mission well beyond the original two years.

19981031-GS

NASA's Deep Space 1 mission was successfully launched Saturday, October 24, at 8:08 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) from Cape Canaveral Air Station, FL.

"The outward-bound Deep Space 1 spacecraft, now more than twice the Moon's distance from Earth, is in excellent condition in its fifth day of flight... Yesterday, spacecraft commands were successfully sent to begin preparation of various system components for the planned Nov. 9 start-up of the ion propulsion engine."

Deep Space 1 is targeted to fly-by Near-Earth Asteroid 1992 KD on July 28, 1999. The technology demonstration mission is scheduled to end by October 1999. At that time, Deep Space 1 may begin on a new trajectory to encounter Comets Wilson-Harrington and Borrelly.

Deep Space One is the first deep space mission of NASA's New Millennium Program. The New Millennium Program (NMP) is an agressive technology demonstration established to validate advanced technologies while returning science data.

19981031-JW & GS