The Mars Pathfinder mission

On July 4th, 1997, Mars Pathfinder became the third spacecraft to successfully land on the planet Mars. The mission's primary objective was to demonstrate a low-cost system for delivering a small science payload to the surface of Mars, and to test the operation of a rover. Scientific objectives include the characterization of the geological and elemental composition of rocks and soil near the lander, imaging, and measurement of the temperature and pressure during descent and at the surface. The Sojourner microrover is capable of traversing tens of meters from the lander to analyze racks and soil in the immediate area The lander's primary mission is 30 Martian days (30 Sols) after landing, with an extended mission lasting for one year. This paper describes the science instruments, the spacecraft and the rover, and a summary of the flight operations history from launch through the second day on the surface.