Modern Exploration Mars Pathfinder

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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder

• NASAs Mars Pathfinder mission the first
  spacecraft to land on Mars in more than 20 years
  and the first ever to send a rover out to
  independently explore the Martian landscape is
  set for touchdown July 4, initiating a new era of
  scientific exploration that will lead eventually
  to human expeditions to the red planet.

Mars Pathfinder Landing Press Kit, July 1997
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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder

• The primary mission objectives were to
  demonstrate the feasibility of low-cost landings
  on, and exploration of, the Martian surface
  (Faster, Better, Cheaper)
• Scientific objectives included
• atmospheric entry science
• long-range and close-up surface imaging
• the general objective was to characterize the
  Martian environment for further exploration

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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder

• Launched December 4, 1996 landed July 4, 1997 in
  Ares Vallis which was believed to be the site of
  an ancient flood
• Landing site selection made using Viking orbiter
  imagery
• First rover first to use airbags

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Modern ExplorationPathfinder

• Landing Site Locations

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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder

• Pathfinder Landing Site

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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder

• Lander Instruments
• Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP)
• Meteorological Station
• Rover Instruments
• Three cameras, two stereo cameras in the front
  and a rear color imaging system cameras worked
  in tandem with a laser system to detect and
  avoid obstacles
• Alpha-Proton-X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) assess
  the composition of rocks and soils

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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder
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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder

• Notable results from Pathfinder
• More than 16,500 images from the lander and 550
  images from the rover
• More than 15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil
  and extensive data on winds and other weather
  factors
• Findings from the investigations carried out by
  scientific instruments on both the lander and the
  rover suggest that Mars was at one time in its
  past warm and wet, with water existing in its
  liquid state and a thicker atmosphere

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Modern ExplorationMars Pathfinder

• How did Pathfinder advance scientific
  understanding of Mars?
• Evidence on the ground for a warm, wet past
• What technological advance(s) did Pathfinder
  carry?
• First rover can be remotely operated
• New landing system