Slightly Above Mars Pathfinder
Explanation:
If you could have hovered above the
Pathfinder mission to
Mars in 1997, this is what you might have seen.
Directly below you is the control tower of
Sagan
Memorial Station.
Three dark solar arrays extend out to collect valuable energy,
surrounded by light-colored deflated airbags that protected Pathfinder's instruments from directly colliding with the rocky Martian surface.
The left
solar panel has ramps down which
Pathfinder's
rolling robot
Sojourner started its adventure to nearby rocks.
Sojourner itself is visible
inspecting a rock nicknamed
Yogi at 11 o'clock.
Rocks cover the
Martian surface, with
Twin Peaks
visible on the horizon at 9 0'clock.
The
distant sky is mostly orange.
This image is a recently released digital combination of
panoramic pictures
taken by Pathfinder on Mars and a picture of a
Lander scale model back on Earth.
The
Mars Pathfinder Mission was able to
collect data for three months, sending back information
that has indicated a
wet distant past for Mars.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
