Mars Pathfinder Black and White Images

Mars Pathfinder home page at NSSDCA

Sojourner rover on the rock "Hassock" - This sol 41 image shows the Sojourner rover with its wheel up on the rock named Hassock. The rock "Wedge" is in the background.

Mars Pathfinder Image 82936 - This image from the Sojourner rover's right front camera was taken on Sol 27. The Pathfinder lander is seen at middle left. The large rock at right, nicknamed "Squash", exhibits a diversity of textures. It looks very similar to a conglomerate, a type of rock found on Earth that forms from sedimentary processes.

Close-up image of Mermaid Dune taken by the rover - This black and white image of Mermaid Dune was extracted from the green color plane of Soujourner's rear color camera. The rover right rear wheel is seen at bottom left and the shadow of the Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer (APXS) is at bottom center. The dune surface occupies the upper right half of the image. The contact between Mermaid and the underlying ground surface extends from the upper left to the APXS shadow. The surface of the dune exhibits a granular texture. The image resolution is about 1 mm/pixel, so the granularity may represent sand particles or cohesive clods of dust.

Rover image of "Wedge" with the lander in the background - Image taken on sol 33

Mars Pathfinder images The rock "Mini-Matterhorn" and Mini-Matterhorn and the Lander - The image on the left shows the rock nicknamed Mini-Matterhorn as viewed by the Mars Pathfinder Lander. The image on the right is a Sojourner Rover view of Mini-Matterhorn and the Lander.

The Sojourner Rover next to the rocks "Piglet" and "Pooh Bear" - The end-of-day image from sol 26 with the windsocks in the foreground. Piglet and Pooh Bear are just to the left and in front of the rover.

A view from the Sojourner Rover on sol 26 - This image was taken by the Sojourner rover looking away from the Mars Pathfinder lander. The rock "Pooh Bear" is at left, and "Mermaid Dune" is runs across the top center of the scene.

Image taken by Sojourner of Souffle - The image was taken after Sojourner autonomously navigated ~3.0 meters and centered on the rock using its onboard laser proximity sensing system. (Sol 21)

Image taken by Sojourner looking back at Yogi - Note how Yogi is balanced. (Sol 18)

A stereo version of the Sagan Memorial Station - The Pathfinder Lander as viewed by the Sojourner Rover. Images were combined from the two forward black and white cameras on the rover and processed as red and blue separations to produce this three dimensional scene.

Mars Pathfinder image 81977 - The black and white image shows the rightmost (northernmost) of the Twin Peaks in the sharpest view yet. They were processed to bring out the stratification detail in the hill.

Mars Pathfinder images 81434 and 81442 - A couple of examples of the Mars Pathfinder red/blue 3-D stereo images. The full-sized version should be viewed using glasses with a red filter on the left and a blue filter on the right. As these images show, structure such as ridges, gullies, and depressions not visible in the normal images can be easily seen in the 3-D versions. More 3-D images are available at the Mars Pathfinder mirror site at Cornell.

High Resolution Black and White Panorama
A comparison of this image with the Viking Lander panoramas is also available.

Mars Pathfinder image 81325 - One of Sojourner's two front cameras took this image of the Sagan Memorial Station on Sol 6. The lander and its deployed rear ramp are at upper left, while several large rocks appear at center. Sojourner was near the large rock Yogi when this image was taken.

Mars Pathfinder image 80881 (650 K) - This 360-degree photomosaic was taken by the IMP camera on July 4, 1997. The foreground is dominated by the lander, newly entitled the Sagan Memorial Station. All three petals have been fully deployed. Upon one of the petals is the Sojourner microrover in its stowed position. The metallic cylinders at either end of Sojourner are the rover deployment ramps. Visible at the rear end (right) of the rover is the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer. Located to the right of the center petal is a dark, circular object and a bright, metallic object. Both are components of the high gain antenna. The black post, bull's-eye rings, and small shaded blocks in the far right portion of the image are components of the calibration targets.

Mars Pathfinder image of Deimos - This image shows Mars' smaller moon, Deimos, as it appeared to Mars Pathfinder on its third night after landing. Deimos is actually only about two IMP pixels across -- it looks bigger because a set of low resolution, compressed images (that is, they were blurry) was returned to Earth. Observations of Deimos are used to determine its spectrum and composition. Deimos is difficult to observe from Earth or the Hubble Space Telescope because it is always very close to Mars.

Mars Pathfinder image of the Sun - Observations of the Sun using the IMP camera showed more dust in the martian atmosphere than was expected. The amount of dust (optical depth of 0.4) was comparable to Viking observations during clear (non-dust-storm) times 21 years ago. The measurements were made by taking images of the Sun with different colors and with the Sun at different elevations in the sky. As the Sun goes lower in the sky the light passes through more and more dust, becoming fainter and fainter, and allowing the amount of dust to be measured.

Mars Pathfinder image 81009 - Yogi, a rock taller than rover Sojourner, is the subject of this image, taken by the deployed Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. The soil in the foreground will be the location of multiple soil mechanics experiments performed by Sojourner's cleated wheels. Pathfinder scientists will be able to control the force inflicted on the soil beneath the rover's wheels, giving them insight into the soil's mechanical properties.

Mars Pathfinder image 81007 - The two hills in the distance, approximately one to two kilometers away, have been dubbed the "Twin Peaks" and are of great interest to Pathfinder scientists as objects of future study. The white areas on the left hill, called the "Ski Run" by scientists, may have been formed by hydraulic processes.

Mars Pathfinder image 81008 - Sojourner is visible in this image, one of the first taken by the deployed Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. The rover has moved from this position into one that later facilitated its using the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument on Barnacle Bill. The APXS, located at the rear of the rover, is not visible in this image.

Mars Pathfinder image 81010 - This new view of the rock dubbed "Couch" was taken by the deployed Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. Earlier images, taken by the undeployed IMP, hinted that Couch was balanced upon the rectangular rock approximately three-quarters of the way up from the bottom of the image. The deployed IMP, standing 1.8 meters above the Martian surface, has now revealed Couch to be a free-standing object positioned at the Martian horizon.

Mars Pathfinder image 81000 - This image shows the Sojourner Rover conducting its examination of "Barnacle Bill" with the APXS. The images was taken by the fully deployed (1.8 meters) IMP camera.

Mars Pathfinder image 81006 - In this image is the rectangular rock dubbed "Flat Top" by Pathfinder scientists. The surface of this rock appears to be covered by dust.

Mars Pathfinder image 80987 - These are the tracks created by the Sojourner Rover as it maneuvered toward "Barnacle Bill". This rock was the first examined by the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer.

Mars Pathfinder image 80900 - This image was taken by the IMP camera before the rover ramps were deployed. The smaller rock in the left portion of the image, named "Barnacle Bill", will be the first rock examined by the rover's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS). The large rock at upper right has been nicknamed "Yogi"

Close-up view of "Barnacle Bill"

Mars Pathfinder image 80901 - In the front left of this image is the site of the first measurements taken by the APXS. Over the cold martian night, the rover examined this soil and will transmit the data back to Earth via the lander later this afternoon, July 6.

Mars Pathfinder image 80828 - Several prominent features of Mars Pathfinder and surrounding terrain are seen in this image, taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder on July 4. Portions of a lander petal are at the lower part of the image. At the left, the mechanism for the high-gain antenna can be seen. The dark area along the right side of the image represents a portion of the low-gain antenna. The radiation calibration target is at the right. The calibration target is made up of a number of materials with well-characterized colors. The known colors of the calibration targets allow scientists to determine the true colors of the rocks and soils of Mars. Three bull's-eye rings provide a wide range of brightness for the camera, similar to a photographer's grayscale chart. In the middle of the bull's-eye is a 5-inch tall post that casts a shadow, which is distorted in this image due to its location with respect to the lander camera.

Mars Pathfinder image 80827 - This image of the Martian surface was taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) before sunset on July 4 (Sol 1), the spacecraft's first day on Mars. The airbags have been partially retracted, and portions the petal holding the undeployed rover Sojourner can be seen at lower left. The rock in the center of the image may be a future target for chemical analysis. The soil in the foreground has been disturbed by the movement of the airbags as they retracted.

Mars Pathfinder image 80903 - This image shows the diversity of rocks at the Ares Vallis site. The large rocks seem to lean in a uniform direction (imbrication). This observation suggests that catastrophic floods once ran through the site. Seen on the horizon is a faint peak.

Mars Pathfinder image 80904 - Named Twin Peaks, the formation of two hills in the background are of extreme geological interest. The left hill has a smooth apron which may have been caused by gravitational processes or water. The hill on the right seems to have horizontal bands running through it. As of yet unidentified, the bands may be deposits, sedimentary layers, or terraces cut by erosion.
The twin peaks are approximately 1 km from the Sagan Memorial Station. The rocks in the foreground are very diverse. Some are rounded and suggest transport by water, others are tabular and angular and indicate non-aqueous deposition. Preliminary hypotheses by Pathfinder geologists are that the angular rocks were thrown from ancient, nearby impact crater sites.

Mars Pathfinder image 80893 - Taken on July 5, this image shows portions of the high gain antenna, a petal, and the retracted airbags. Geologists are eager to examine the rocks of the Ares Vallis terrain. As predicted, the landing site has provided a grab bag of diverse rock types and sizes.

Mars Pathfinder image 80894 - This image was taken on July 5 by the IMP camera. The flat, table-like rock appears to be covered with dust. The rock also displays many interesting linear features. The large rocks in the background are intriguing because of their impressive textures.

Caption information courtesy of Mars Pathfinder Project

Recent Mars Pathfinder Images

Color Mars Pathfinder Images

Historical Mars Pathfinder Images

Comparison of Mars Pathfinder and Viking B&W Panoramas

Mars Pathfinder Project Image Site

Mars Pathfinder home page at NSSDCA

NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 30 December 2004, DRW