<h2>AAS  96-153</h2><h2>MISSION PLAN FOR MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR</h2><h4>W. Lee and W. Sidney, Jet Propulsion Laboratory</h4><h2> Abstract </h2>In November 1996, NASA and JPL will begin America's return to Mars after a 20-year absence by launching the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. The MGS mission will recover most of the lost objectives of the 1992 Mars Observer mission by delivering a single spacecraft the red planet for an extended orbital study of the Mars' surface, atmosphere, and gravitational and magnetic fields. This paper will provide an overview of the mission plan, spacecraft, and science instruments. In addition, the use of aerobraking and other innovative operational techniques to reduce the trend of increasing mission cost while still delivering comprehensive science will be discussed.<br><br>