PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

Contact: Diane Ainsworth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     September 22, 1994

     The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's newest missions to Mars 
-- the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor missions -- 
are featured in a special display at the Los Angeles County 
Fair in Pomona. 

     The JPL exhibit, which continues through Oct. 2, 
highlights NASA's new emphasis on returning to Mars, the 
subject of a decade-long program of planetary exploration.  
NASA's return to the red planet gets under way in November 
1996 with launch of the Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global 
Surveyor spacecraft.  	

     This weekend, Sept. 24-25, is billed as a "Mars 
Weekend" with special presentations and demonstrations of a 
rover robot like one that will be sent to the red planet in 
two years in the Mars Pathfinder mission.

     Donna Shirley, program manager of the Laboratory's 
Office of Mars Exploration and head of the rover project, 
will present an overview of  the Mars Pathfinder and Mars 
Global Surveyor missions at noon and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, 
Sept. 25.

     One side of the triangular JPL exhibit boasts a large 
Viking photograph of the landing site chosen for the new 
Pathfinder lander.  A monitor in the center of the exhibit 
is showing a multimedia presentation entitled, "Mars 
Exploration Adventure: A Quick Tour of the Red Planet," and 
other mission videos on a continuing basis.  

     Tenth-scale models of some JPL spacecraft that have 
already explored Mars -- such as the 1971 Mariner 9 
spacecraft and 1976 Viking orbiters and landers -- are also 
on display to give audiences a retrospective of  the Lab's 
heritage in planetary exploration and its plans for the 21st 
century. 

     The Laboratory is also sponsoring a star-gazing program 
every evening with JPL and Mt. Wilson volunteers under a 
program called Telescopes in Education.  The program allows 
science instructors and students to remotely operate a high-
quality 24-inch telescope at Mount Wilson Observatory from 
the classroom.

     Gilbert Clark of JPL, who founded and directs the 
program, has been showing children and amateur astronomers 
how to operate the computer workstation at the fairgrounds.  
Using the terminal, the telescope at Mt. Wilson can be 
pointed at any star, nebula, cluster or galaxy in the night 
sky and viewed on the computer screen. 

     The Los Angeles County Fair is open from 10 a.m. to 10 
p.m. during the week through Oct. 2 at the Fairplex, 1101 W. 
McKinley Ave., Pomona, Calif.  

     The JPL weekend exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 11 
p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24, and from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on 
Sunday, Sept. 25.  Telescope viewing of the night sky takes 
place each evening from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.  

     For further information, contact the JPL Public 
Services Office at (818) 354-0112. 

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9/22/94 DEA
#9455