Close-up of “Moe”

A close-up view of the rock 'Moe' in the Rock Garden at the Pathfinder landing site. Moe is a meter-size boulder that, as seen from NASA's Sojourner, has a relatively smooth yet pitted texture upon close examination. Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997.
October 14, 1997
CreditNASA/JPL
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  • english

This close-up of the rock "Moe" was taken from the Sojourner rover's front left camera on Sol 70 (September 13). Flute-like textures on the rock, possibly caused by wind abrasion, are clearly visible.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998.

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