Just after landing on Mars in 1997, the robotic Mars Pathfinder [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…] main station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] took a quick first look around. This insurance panorama [ http://faculty.phys…] was taken even before the Sagan Memorial Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] camera was raised to its two-meter-high perch. The full view is best seen by slowly scrolling to the right. The unique perspective captures many Mars Pathfinder instruments [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] in the close foreground including a screen for judging sky illumination, communications antennae, solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.…], and two ramps leading down to the surface for the robot probe Sojourner [ http://mars.jpl.nas…]. After taking the ramp on the right, Sojourner [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] can be seen on the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Visible on the surface are numerous rocks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and hills [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that came to be better studied. The Mars Pathfinder mission [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] went on to return 16,000 images and data that resulted in many discoveries [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], including evidence for warmer and wetter conditions on Mars [ http://www.nineplan…] in the past. After nearly three spectacular months exploring the surface, Mars Pathfinder dropped out of communication [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], likely the result of depleted battery power.
Explanation
Just after landing on Mars in 1997, the robotic Mars Pathfinder [ http://mpfwww.jpl.n…] main station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] took a quick first look around. This insurance panorama [ http://faculty.phys…] was taken even before the Sagan Memorial Station [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] camera was raised to its two-meter-high perch. The full view is best seen by slowly scrolling to the right. The unique perspective captures many Mars Pathfinder instruments [ http://mars.jpl.nas…] in the close foreground including a screen for judging sky illumination, communications antennae, solar panels [ http://www.qrg.nwu.…], and two ramps leading down to the surface for the robot probe Sojourner [ http://mars.jpl.nas…]. After taking the ramp on the right, Sojourner [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] can be seen on the Martian surface [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…]. Visible on the surface are numerous rocks [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] and hills [ http://antwrp.gsfc.…] that came to be better studied. The Mars Pathfinder mission [ http://www.jpl.nasa…] went on to return 16,000 images and data that resulted in many discoveries [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], including evidence for warmer and wetter conditions on Mars [ http://www.nineplan…] in the past. After nearly three spectacular months exploring the surface, Mars Pathfinder dropped out of communication [ http://mars.jpl.nas…], likely the result of depleted battery power.
