Mars Pathfinder

Spacecraft: Lander with Microrover

Launch: December 1996

Arrival: July 1997

Primary Mission:30 days

Diagrams related to Mars Pathfinder may be found HERE.

Introduction

Pathfinder will be the first U.S. spacecraft to land on Mars since the two Vikings arrived in 1976. Pathfinder is likely to be joined on the Mars surface in 1997 by two landers and two penetrators of the Russian Mars 96 mission. A unique feature of Pathfinder will be its Microrover, a small vehicle which can range up to a few tens of meters away from the spacecraft and examine the composition of surrounding rocks and soils.

Pathfinder is planned for launch aboard a Delta II rocket sometime between December 1996 and January 1997. The spacecraft will be on a direct course from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the Martian surface. Landing is planned for July 4, 1997, nearly 21 years after the Viking landings.

Pathfinder will land during the Martian night. Just before the spacecraft impacts the surface, giant airbags will inflate to cushion the landing. After the spacecraft comes to rest on the surface, the airbags will deflate and three solar panels will unfold. These panels are arranged in a way that will allow the spacecraft to be flipped over if it should land upside-down. The solar panels will begin providing power to the spacecraft as soon as the sun comes up that first morning on Mars.

Mars Pathfinder received new start funding from NASA and Congress in October 1993. The project is required to have a cost of less than $150 Million, have a fast schedule (less than three years from new start to launch), and achieve a set of significant but focused engineering, science, and technology objectives.

Return to Table of Contents.

TES 1994-1995 Curriculum Guide / Arizona Mars K-12 Education Program