Sojourner
Overview
The Sojourner Rover was the first robotic rover mission to explore the surface of Mars. Sojourner, which means traveller, was named after Sojourner Truth during a worldwide, year-long competition held by The Planetary Society of Pasadena, CA, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for students writing essays suggesting a name for the pioneering robot.
The Sojourner rover was launched onboard the Mars Pathfinder mission on December 4, 1996 by a Delta II rocket just a month after the Mars Global Surveyor was sent to the Red Planet. After a 7-month voyage, Mars Pathfinder landed on Ares Vallis, in a region called Chryse Planitia on 4 July 1997.
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