USA-Mars: Pathfinder Takes Its First Trip Onto Martian Soil

Record ID: 3919

  • Title: USA-Mars: Pathfinder Takes Its First Trip Onto Martian Soil
  • Date: 6th July 1997
  • Summary: After spending a restful night on the dusty surface of Mars, the Pathfinder's solar-powered roving vehicle prepared to unlock the secrets of Mars July 6 by dropping a probe into a nearby rock called "Barnacle Bill. The Sojourner, a six-wheeled vehicle about the size of a microwave oven, received its instructions from scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory here, via a computer modem that allows the 23-pound buggy to communicate with the Pathfinder landing vehicle. On July 5, a glitch that prevented the rover from "talking" to the lander was fixed, allowing Sojourner to roll off the landing craft and venture onto the surface. The manoeuvre should be relatively simple, in part because "Barnacle Bill" was only inches away from the Pathfinder landing site. The Sojourner's mission, which was described as the robotic equivalent of Neil Armstrong's historic landing on the moon in 1969, is clearly the high point for the $266 million project. Before moving toward its target the rover inserted a high-tech probe into the Martian soil for 10 hours to obtain valuable information about the red, sandy surface. By inserting its alpha proton X-ray spectrometer into the soil and then into rocks like Barnacle Bill, scientists are hoping to learn how the planet was formed, what changes occurred over the years and whether life ever existed on Mars. For NASA, the Pathfinder mission is also a way to renew interest in space exploration and showcase the technological advances made since the first Viking probes landed on Mars 21 years ago. Unlike Viking 1, which took a year to determine where it was on the planet's surface, the Pathfinder was able to pinpoint its location in a single day. And the images that have come back from Pathfinder - and instantly transmitted around the world via the World Wide Web -- have been nothing short of spectacular.
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  • Location: USA PASADENA CALIFORNIA NASA
  • Reuters ID: LDL00126V2U5N
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
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  • Copyright Holder: Reuters Archive
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