NEWS | February 26, 2016
Revisit NASA's Mars Pathfinder and Rover (360 View)
Not all Web browsers support viewing 360-degree videos and images.
See and download the static panorama from:
http://go.nasa.gov/1TcjxuN
Pathfinder arrived at Mars on July 4, 1997, using a new airbag technology to cushion the landing. From landing until the final data transmission on Sept. 27, 1997, Pathfinder returned 2.3 billion bits of information, including more than 16,500 images from the lander and 550 from the rover.
Pathfinder lived up to its name by paving the way for future NASA Mars rovers, including the Mars Exploration rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, which used similar airbag technology to land in January 2004, and Curiosity, which landed in August 2012 utilizing a daring and innovative sky crane technology. Opportunity and Curiosity continue operating on the surface of Mars and returning data.
Click the links below to find out more about each point of interest.
Pathfinder Lander and Sojourner Rover
http://mars.nasa.gov/MPF/index1.html
Mission Facts [PDF]:
http://go.nasa.gov/21ndzM7
Yogi
http://go.nasa.gov/21ndEiO
Twin Peaks
http://go.nasa.gov/21ndHeD
Barnacle Bill
http://go.nasa.gov/21ndKqF
Rock Garden
http://go.nasa.gov/21ndRTi
Science Results
http://go.nasa.gov/1R89ArV
Rock and Soil Types
http://go.nasa.gov/21ne5JY
This vista was stitched together from many images taken in 1997 by Pathfinder. For more information, visit these sites:
http://go.nasa.gov/21nea0b
http://go.nasa.gov/21nebkS
Pathfinder and Sojourner figure into Mark Watney's quest for survival on the Red Planet in the book and movie, "The Martian." See JPL's role in making "The Martian" a reality:
http://go.nasa.gov/1McRrXw
Discover nine real NASA technologies that play role in "The Martian" at:
http://go.nasa.gov/1QiyUiC
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Pathfinder and Sojourner were built and managed by JPL, which also manages NASA's Mars program, the agency's Mars Science Laboratory and its Curiosity rover, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Mars Odyssey orbiter and the Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator (LDSD) project.
Learn more about NASA's "Journey to Mars" at:
http://go.nasa.gov/1hQopFq
2016-054
Stephanie L. Smith / Guy Webster
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-5464 / 818-354-6278
slsmith@jpl.nasa.gov / guy.webster@jpl.nasa.gov