Some of the excited engineers and staff on landing day. Click on image for full size (51K GIF) Image courtesy of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasedena, CA

If you had the chance to visit Mars, you might take pictures of your trip. This is exactly what the Mars Pathfinder does. It has a camera that will take pictures of Mars.

If you were on the surface of Mars, you might collect rocks there. The Pathfinder spacecraft has a rover that does this. The rover searches the surface of Mars and collects rocks that can be tested.

Mars Pathfinder will finish its surface mission in August 1997.

Some of the excited engineers and staff on landing day. Click on image for full size (51K GIF) Image courtesy of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasedena, CA

After impact the lander put out three solar panels for power. Later on, a camera will map its surroundings, and the Sojourner rover will search the surface of Mars for rocks.

Long ago, water flowed on the plains of Mars. The rocky plain that Mars Pathfinder is landing on is thought to be a previous flood plain. Its name is Ares Vallis. The Sojourner rover will test rock and soil samples in this area.

Mars Pathfinder will finish its surface mission in August 1997.

The Mars Pathfinder is a NASA Discovery Mission. The Pathfinder program was developed in three years and costs under $280 million dollars. It is actually the first of NASA's Discovery Program low-cost series of planetary missions. The motto of the program has become "faster, better, and cheaper"!

Some of the excited engineers and staff on landing day. Click on image for full size (51K GIF) Image courtesy of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasedena, CA

After impact the lander deployed its three solar panels for power. Later on the camera will map its surroundings, and the Sojourner rover will be positioned for deployment to the surface.

Eons ago it is thought that water flowed on the plains of Mars. The rocky plain that Mars Pathfinder is landing on is thought to be a previous flood plain. Its name is Ares Vallis. The Sojourner rover will use alpha proton x-ray spectrometry on rocks to take elemental composition measurements. The Ares Vallis landing site was chosen for the variety of rock and soil samples it may present.

Mars Pathfinder will finish its surface mission in August 1997.

Mars Pathfinder is a NASA Discovery Mission. The Pathfinder program was developed in three years and costs under $280 million dollars. It is actually the first of NASA's Discovery Program low-cost series of planetary missions. The motto of the program has become "faster, better, and cheaper"!