Sojourner at “Wedge”

The Sojourner rover is next to the rock "Wedge" in this image taken on Sol 35 by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP). From this position, the rover later took an image of Wedge from its rear color camera (see PIA00901). The cylindrical instrument protruding from the rear of Sojourner is the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS), an instrument that measures the chemical composition of rocks and soils. The APXS was successfully deployed against Wedge on the night of Sol 37.

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). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

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.