Nov 13 1997
From The Space Library
After altering the spacecraft's path to move it farther away from Mars's violent winds, NASA launched Mars Global Surveyor from its safe elliptical orbit of the Red Planet, sending the spacecraft into the planet's harsh atmosphere. NASA officials indicated that, because of the change in flight plans, Mars Global Surveyor would begin its mapping mission of Mars in 1999, one year later than originally planned. The change of plan highlighted both the difficulty of exploring Mars and NASA's ability to adapt to difficult conditions. When Mars's atmosphere had proven more hostile than previously anticipated, mission controllers had proven able to readjust Surveyor's orbit. In effect, the move had placed Surveyor in a holding pattern, keeping it from harm. Once conditions had improved, however, NASA would not be able simply to proceed as planned. Because Surveyor ran on solar power, the mission planners must wait for Mars and the Sun to realign, to provide energy for the craft. However, although NASA would have to postpone the mission for one year, the delay would provide an added benefit, allowing NASA's researchers to set Surveyor on a circular orbit that would actually bring Surveyor closer to the planet than originally projected.
NASA announced the retirement of Wilbur C. Trafton, who had guided NASA's International Space Station (ISS) planning for nearly four years. Trafton resigned from his position as Director of the Space Station Program one week after a contentious hearing, in which NASA officials informed Congress that cost overruns on the ISS had reached nearly US$1 billion. However, at Trafton's departure, NASA Administrator Daniel S. Goldin praised him, stating, "Will Trafton has met or exceeded all of the challenges I have placed before him." During Trafton's tenure, Russia had officially joined the ISS effort as a full partner, and the ISS had moved from planning stage to construction.
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