Mars Pathfinder Mission

The Mars Pathfinder landed on Mars in July, 1997 and began a successful mission of exploration. Find out about the landing site, the mission and the Sojourner rover by clicking the links below.

LANDING SITE | MISSION | ROVER

Pathfinder Mission Overview

This overview of the Pathfinder project is quoted from NASA/JPL. Click on the image or here for a larger image of the Mars Pathfinder diagram.

"Mars Pathfinder was originally designed as a technology demonstration of a way to deliver an instrumented lander and a free-ranging robotic rover to the surface of the red planet. Pathfinder not only accomplished this goal but also returned an unprecedented amount of data and outlived its primary design life.

Mars Pathfinder used an innovative method of directly entering the Martian atmosphere, assisted by a parachute to slow its descent through the thin Martian atmosphere and a giant system of airbags to cushion the impact. The landing site, an ancient flood plain in Mars' northern hemisphere known as Ares Vallis, is among the rockiest parts of Mars. It was chosen because scientists believed it to be a relatively safe surface to land on and one which contained a wide variety of rocks deposited during a catastrophic flood. The lander, formally named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station following its successful touchdown, and the rover, named Sojourner after American civil rights crusader Sojourner Truth, both outlived their design lives - the lander by nearly three times, and the rover by 12 times.

Sojourner rover at Yogi rock From landing until the final data transmission on September 27, 1997, Mars Pathfinder returned 2.3 billion bits of information, including more than 16,500 images from the lander and 550 images from the rover, as well as more than 15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil and extensive data on winds and other weather factors. Findings from the investigations carried out by scientific instruments on both the lander and the rover suggest that Mars was at one time in its past warm and wet, with water existing in its liquid state and a thicker atmosphere."

In the image at right the Sojourner rover inspects the rock NASA scientists called "Yogi". The rock is about 1 meter (3 feet) high and approximately 6.5 meters (20 feet) from the lander. The rover is 30 centimeters (1 foot) tall.

LANDING SITE | TOP | ROVER

Pathfinder landing area map The Mars Pathfinder landed about the center of this NASA map where the black arrow indicates. Note the islands and channels as well as the craters in the map. The NASA scientists and engineers were very cautious when selecting the site so that a safe landing could be achieved.

The landing used a unique combination of heatshield, parachute and rockets to slow down during entry and airbags to cushion the fall. The lander bounced about 16 times and landed upright where it unfolded. The Sojourner rover was guided down a ramp the next day to begin exploration of the surface.

The lander carried an imager (camera), magnets for measuring magnetic properties of soil, wind socks, and an atmospheric structure instrument/meteorology package. The rover carried an Alpha Proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS), three cameras and technology experiments.

Major Mission Characteristics

Launch Period Primary Mission Trajectory

December 2 - 31, 1996 Land On Mars - July 4, 1997 6-7 Months

Launch Vehicle Complete Surface Mission End Of Project

Delta II - 7925 August 1997 September 1998

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Click here for more information on
Mars Pathfinder
Viking, Pathfinder and other Mars missions
NASA Planet Facts.

LANDING SITE | TOP | ROVER

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