Pathfinder on Mars

The Sojourner Rover deploys the -proton x-ray spectrometer onto the rock named "Moe" within the rock garden in this 75- image, color-enhanced mosaic taken by the imager on the lander. (Image of the rover in the rock garden was taken on a different day than the terrain image.) The view is to the southwest, with the Carl Sagan Memorial Station in the foreground and South "Twin Peak" on the horizon about 1 km from the lander. [Image processed at Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA]

NOTE: original caption as published in Science magazine.

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.