Douglas Isbell
Headquarters, Washington, DC                  September 20, 1999
(Phone: 202/358-1753)

Mary Hardin
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
(Phone: 818/354-5011)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N99-51

MARS CLIMATE ORBITER TO ARRIVE AT MARS THIS WEEK

     NASA's Mars Climate Orbiter, the first interplanetary weather 
satellite, arrives at Mars at 5:01 a.m. EDT (2:01 a.m. PDT) on 
Thursday, Sept. 23.

     In addition to observing the seasonal climate and daily 
weather of Mars, the orbiter will serve as a communications relay 
for the Mars Polar Lander, due to set down on layered terrain near 
the south pole of the red planet on Dec. 3, 1999.

     NASA TV will carry a live feed from orbiter mission control 
facilities at both the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, 
CA, and Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO.  The feed will 
begin at 4:30 a.m. EDT and run through 5:45 a.m. (1:30 a.m. to 
2:45 a.m. PDT).  Animation and video footage related to the 
mission will run on the NASA TV Video File beginning on Tuesday, 
September 21.

    Los Angeles-area reporters are invited to JPL to watch the 
event in the von Karman Auditorium.  Media relations staff will be 
on hand to arrange interviews. 

     At 11 a.m. EDT (8 a.m. PDT) on Thursday, Sept. 23, there will 
be a mission status briefing from JPL that will summarize the 
results of the Mars orbit insertion activities and provide a 
preview of mission operations.  

     A text press kit with graphics and full details on the 
mission is available on the Internet:

   http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/files/misc/mcoarrivehq.pdf

NASA Television is broadcast on the satellite GE-2, 
transponder 9C, C band, 85 degrees west longitude, frequency 
3880.0 MHz, vertical polarization, audio monaural at 6.8 MHz.  

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