We have completed another successful day of operations at the Sagan Memorial Station. Earth rise on Sol 54 occurred at 8:55 pm PDT Wednesday night and sunrise occured at 11:45 pm.

The lander continues to be in excellent health. The activities for today were to acquire more super pan imaging data and additional weather measurements. In addition we are performing a special test with the approaching Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. This test involves near simultaneous tracking and will demonstrate the technique that will be used for the Mars Surveyor 98 mission.

The rover remains healthy with the exception of continued accelerometer and gyro noise problems. The plan for today was to turn slightly and place the APXS on the rock Half Dome. While performing the turn we tripped a potential hazard limit which terminated the activity. In this case it was due to one of the wheels riding up on the side of the rock and producing a larger than expected rover tilt angle. These limits are set very conservatively to ensure the the rover does not tip over. Engineers will look the rover engineering data and pictures taken by the lander camera to determine if it is safe relax these limits and continue to perform the turn tomorrow.

Images and comprehensive updates on Pathfinder science results are available on the Internet at http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov or via JPL's home page at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/marsnews/ . Daily audio updates are also available by calling 1-800-391-6654.

For further information on the Mars Pathfinder Mission, please call our Mission Status Report line at 1-800-391-6654.

For more information, please visit our website at http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov.