LOVE ROCKET DOWNRANGE? SUPPORT THE PROJECT AND   STAR ON GITHUB  6 

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    • Rocket Downrange Rover profile image for the Pathfinder 'Sojourner' Mars Rover

    Sojourner

    Ares Vallis, Mars

    COMPLETE

    Status

    83 (85)

    SOLs (DAYs)

    330 (100)

    Feet (Metres)

    ABOUT THE ROVER

    Biography:

    NASA's Pathfinder is a two fold mission to Mars in mid-1997. One part consisted of the lander, named Carl Sagan Memorial Station, which served as a base camp communications and control. The other, was a light weight (only 23 pounds) rover named Sojourner which was the first rover to operate outside the Earth-Moon system. Originally designed for a 7 sol environmental survey mission, Sojourner was operational for 83 days before communications were lost.

    Launch Date:

    December 4th, 1996

    Landing Date:

    July 4th, 1997

    Rover Cost:

    $265 million

    Quotes from History

    It was the beginning of a Mars Renaissance... since Pathfinder, there’s been basically a mission to Mars almost every opportunity... [now] we have a flotilla of orbiters, we have three spacecraft, two rovers, and a lander on the surface, I mean, we have a little community up there.

    Matthew Golombek, Former Project Manager for Pathfinder/Sojourner mission

    Rover Photo Feed

    Photos taken by Sojourner and Pathfinder base camp.

    This image shows the area directly in front of the rover egress ramp and around Yogi.Sojourner rolling over the Mermaid dune These three images show a sunset on Mars, with false color to enhance details.The Sojourner Rover at the end of sol 22 This image shows clear evidence of 'scalloped' features in the soil associated with wind-blown dust.The Sojourner Rover is taking its Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer measurement. It clearly shows the 'two-toned' surface of this large rock.Here we see Wedge and Flat Top imaged in color as part of the 'monster panorama'.A full-color panorama of the landing site from the Mars Pathfinder camera.A color version of the image of the rover as it left the rear (or right) ramp.Large boulders are visible in this enlargement of pictures taken by the Mars Pathfinder lander camera on July 4, 1997.This closeup picture of the Mars Pathfinder lander shows the front of the small Sojourner rover, perched on a solar panel. A hill is visible in the distance (the notch within the hill is an image artifact). Airbags are seen at the lower right.

    For more information on this rover, or other missions, visit NASA's official website