QUESTION:
I was wondering if you are going to get very stressed out or 
depressed on the trip to Mars?

ANSWER from Charles Whetsel on November 20, 1996:
While our spacecraft is on its way to Mars, things are a little quiet, 
but not necessarily depressing. Our spacecraft is out in deep space 
with nothing much to take pictures of right now. When you or I look 
at Mars in the sky from Earth, it looks like a bright star, and from 
Mars the Earth would look like a star, but from where our spacecraft 
is right now, both Earth AND Mars look like stars! It sure must be 
lonely out there!

We are busy making plans and preparations for when the spacecraft 
gets to Mars late next summer. Once it gets to Mars, we still have a 
lot of work to do before we aerobrake into the ideal orbit around 
Mars where we will start taking pictures. Most of the pictures will 
not come back until 1998.

Charles Whetsel
Mars Surveyor Flight Operations