If you could have hovered above the Pathfinder mission [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…] to Mars [ http://www.seds.org…] in 1997, this is what you might have seen. Directly below you is the control tower of Sagan [ http://www.sciam.co…] Memorial Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Three dark solar arrays extend out to collect valuable energy, surrounded by light-colored deflated airbags that protected Pathfinder's instruments from directly colliding with the rocky Martian surface. The left solar panel [ http://www.qrg.nwu.…] has ramps down which Pathfinder [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…]'s rolling robot Sojourner [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] started its adventure to nearby rocks. Sojourner [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] itself is visible inspecting a rock nicknamed Yogi [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] at 11 o'clock. Rocks cover the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], with Twin Peaks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] visible on the horizon at 9 0'clock. The distant sky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is mostly orange. This image [ http://photojournal…] is a recently released digital combination of panoramic picture [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]s taken by Pathfinder on Mars and a picture of a Lander scale model back on Earth. The Mars Pathfinder Mission [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…] was able to collect data for three months, sending back information that has indicated a wet distant past [ http://imp.lpl.ariz…] for Mars.
Explanation
If you could have hovered above the Pathfinder mission [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…] to Mars [ http://www.seds.org…] in 1997, this is what you might have seen. Directly below you is the control tower of Sagan [ http://www.sciam.co…] Memorial Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Three dark solar arrays extend out to collect valuable energy, surrounded by light-colored deflated airbags that protected Pathfinder's instruments from directly colliding with the rocky Martian surface. The left solar panel [ http://www.qrg.nwu.…] has ramps down which Pathfinder [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…]'s rolling robot Sojourner [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] started its adventure to nearby rocks. Sojourner [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] itself is visible inspecting a rock nicknamed Yogi [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] at 11 o'clock. Rocks cover the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…], with Twin Peaks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] visible on the horizon at 9 0'clock. The distant sky [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] is mostly orange. This image [ http://photojournal…] is a recently released digital combination of panoramic picture [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]s taken by Pathfinder on Mars and a picture of a Lander scale model back on Earth. The Mars Pathfinder Mission [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…] was able to collect data for three months, sending back information that has indicated a wet distant past [ http://imp.lpl.ariz…] for Mars.
