Mars Pathfinder Project Information

A NASA press conference summarizing results from the Mars Pathfinder mission was held on June 29, 1998. More details are available in the press release

Images from Mars Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder impacted the surface on July 4 at 16:57 UT (12:57 PM EDT) at a velocity of about 18 m/s (40 mph) - approximately 12.5 m/s vertical and 12.5 m/s horizontal - and bounced about 15 meters (50 feet) into the air, bouncing another 15 times and rolling before coming to rest approximately 2.5 minutes after impact and about 1 km from the initial impact site. The landing site in the Ares Vallis region is at 19.33 N, 33.55 W, the lander has been named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

The Mars Pathfinder's Sojourner Rover rolled onto Mars' surface on July 6 at about 05:40 UT (1:40 AM EDT). Image received at 2:00 AM EDT July 6 shows the rover completely off the ramp, all six wheels on the martian soil. A 9-frame movie of the Sojourner's descent down the ramp is also available (~500 K).

Preliminary Science Results

The Mars Pathfinder (formerly known as the Mars Environmental Survey, or MESUR, Pathfinder) is the second of NASA's low-cost planetary Discovery missions. The mission consists of a stationary lander and a surface rover. The mission has the primary objective of demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost landings on and exploration of the Martian surface. This objective will be met by tests of communications between the rover and lander, and the lander and Earth, and tests of the imaging devices and sensors.

The scientific objectives include atmospheric entry science, long-range and close-up surface imaging, with the general objective being to characterize the Martian environment for further exploration. The spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere without going into orbit around the planet and landed on Mars with the aid of parachutes, rockets and airbags, taking atmospheric measurements on the way down. Prior to landing, the spacecraft was enclosed by three triangular solar panels (petals), which unfolded onto the ground after touchdown. (See image above.) The lander and rover operated until communication was lost for unknown reasons on 27 September.

The rover "Sojourner" is a six-wheeled vehicle which is controlled by an Earth-based operator, who uses images obtained by both the rover and lander systems. Note that the time delay is about 10 minutes, requiring some autonomous control by the rover. The primary objectives were scheduled for the first seven sols (1 sol = 1 martian day = ~24.7 hours), all within about 10 meters of the lander. The extended mission included more analyses of nearby rock and soil and more tests of the rover capabilities.

Detailed information on the Lander and experiments

Detailed information on the Rover and experiments

Images returned by Mars Pathfinder

Information on the entry and landing strategy

Information on the landing site

Mars Mileage Guide

The landing site for the Mars Pathfinder is at 19.33 N, 33.55 W in the Ares Vallis area. The site area is shown below. The first image shows the nominal landing area as an oval superimposed on a Viking Orbiter image. The target landing point is at the center of the oval. The second image shows the location of the landing site (arrow) on the Mars global digital image model.

Clicking on these thumbnails gives higher resolution images.

See a comparison of the Mars Pathfinder and Viking landing site b&w panoramas.

Shaded relief map of the landing site.

Mars global view showing the Pathfinder and Viking landing sites

Images

Mars Pathfinder Images

More Color Mars Pathfinder Images

More Black and White Mars Pathfinder Images

Historical Mars Pathfinder Images

Comparison of Mars Pathfinder and Viking B&W Panoramas

Global view of Mars showing the Mars Pathfinder and Viking landing sites

Information on and Viking images of the landing site
Information on post-landing itinerary - for the two days after landing
Information on the entry and landing strategy
APXS analysis of the rocks and soils

APXS Mars surface composition results - Press Release 04 December 1997
Mars Pathfinder mission winding down - Press Release 04 November 1997
Review of Mars Pathfinder activities and status - Press Release 8 August 1997
Hubble images show cloudy cold weather awaiting Mars Pathfinder - Press Release 20 May 1997
Hubble detects large dust storm in Vallis Marineris - Press Release 01 July 1997

Mars Fact Sheet

Mars Home Page

Scientific Results of the Mars Pathfinder Mission

Viking Orbiters and Landers to Mars

Mars Global Surveyor Information

NASA's Discovery Program

Mars Pathfinder Project Home Page

NSSDCA Planetary Sciences Home Page

NASA Official: Dave Williams, david.r.williams@nasa.gov
Last Updated: 27 June 2022, DRW