All spacecraft systems onboard Mars Pathfinder remain in excellent health as the first lander in more than 20 years nears its July 4th entry and landing on Mars.
Yesterday the spacecraft was turned 7 degrees to place it in the proper orientation for entry into the upper atmosphere of Mars. At 1:42 p.m. PDT yesterday, the flight team commanded the spacecraft to switch into the "entry, descent and landing mode." This computer sequence will execute all spacecraft activities on landing day, beginning at 8:30 a.m. PDT, when Pathfinder vents the freon in its cooling system, until after landing, when the spacecraft is ready to transmit its first low-gain antenna signal to Earth.
Currently Pathfinder is about 1.34 million kilometers (837,000 miles) from Mars, traveling at a velocity of about 19,300 kilometers per hour (12,000 miles per hour) with respect to Mars.
For more information, please visit our website at http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov.