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Mars Pathfinder / Sojourner Rover

Mars Pathfinder / Sojourner Rover

The Mars Pathfinder mission, designed to demonstrate a low-cost method for delivering a set of science instruments to the Red Planet, was the first wheeled vehicle to be used on any other planet in the solar system and served as the foundation for the Mars rovers of today.

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Mission Statistics

Launch Date

Dec. 4, 1996

Type

Lander/Rover

Target

Mars

Status

Past

About the mission

The Mars Pathfinder mission, designed to demonstrate a low-cost method for delivering a set of science instruments to the Red Planet, was the first wheeled vehicle to be used on any other planet in the solar system and served as the foundation for the Mars rovers of today.

The mission landed a rover -- Sojourner -- on the surface of Mars using an air bag landing system and innovative petal design, which have been used since in various incarnations to land other rovers on the Red Planet. Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, snapping photographs and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements.

Instruments

  • Image for Mars Pathfinder (IMP)
  • Atmospheric Structure Instrument/Meteorology Package (ASI/MET)
  • Alpha/Proton/X-ray Spectrometer (APXS)
  • Rover imaging cameras

More about Mars

Image .

South Polar Ice

Video .

Perseverance's Mastcam-Z Views Ingenuity's 47th Takeoff

Image .

Southern Dunes

News .

Engineers Keep an Eye on Fuel Supply of NASA’s Oldest Mars Orbiter

Image .

South Polar Ice

Image .

Sirenum Fossae

Image .

Perseverance's Mastcam-Z Views Ingenuity's 47th Takeoff

Image .

Rugged Crater Floor

Image .

Gorgonum Chaos

Audio .

Episode 12: Secrets of the Mars Rovers

Mission Website
Fact Sheet (PDF)
Mars Website
Mars Pathfinder on Solar System Exploration
Mars Pathfinder on National Space Science Data Center

Explore Other Missions

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Mars Climate Orbiter

MarCO

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Mariner 8 (Mariner H)

Perseverance Rover

Mariner 9 (Mariner I)

InSight

Mariner 7

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