Mars Pathfinder
Overview
This NASA mission was launched on a Delta II rocket on December 4, 1996. The Mars Pathfinder mission was used to demonstrate that NASA could send an exploratory mission to Mars for 1/15th of the cost of the Viking budget in the 1970's. The mission was developed at a cost of under $150 million in 3 years.
One of the major mission objectives was to deliver a microrover safely to the surface in order to study the surface composition. The microrover onbord was known as Sojourner.
![](/images/thumb/f/f7/PIA01153_20594.jpg/400px-PIA01153_20594.jpg)
Annotated panorama of the Ares Vallis landing site of the Mars Pathfinder lander. Annotations of surrounding features and rocks identified by the Pathfinder mission team.
External Links
- Mars Pathfinder web site - Main entry, links to: