About 20 days after launch, Mars Global Surveyor can expect a longdistance call from "Planet Earth" .... just checking in, mind you ... to make sure the spacecraft's UHF radio relay system is operating while it is still within earshot of radio amateurs back home.Ham radio enthusiasts from across the country gathered recently at JPL to plan a strategy for conducting the Man Relay Flight Test in late November. Led by Dr. John Callas, JPL scientist and experiment representative for Mars Global Surveyor, the workshop included radio amateurs from the United States, Canada and the French Space Agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), which has furnished the UHF Mars Relay system onboard MGS.
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