(CNN) -- The main scientific goal of the Mars Pathfinder mission was to take a deeper look at the composition of rocks on the planet's surface.
To do this, the rover Sojourner was equipped with APXS, a portable, high-tech X-ray spectrometer. The device was put up against rock samples to take readings that helped scientists back on Earth determine the chemical composition of objects on the Martian surface.
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Olympus Mons, one of the best known features on the Martian surface and the planet's largest known volcano.
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The area where Mars Pathfinder landed, called Ares Vallis, is thought to be a flood plain from eons ago, when Mars, now dry, had water on its surface. Flood waters brought rocks from a large area of the planet and collected them here.
By being able to more closely look at the composition of those rocks, scientists hope to be able to develop more comprehensive knowledge about Mars than they were able to glean from the Viking missions in 1975. Those probes landed in a barren desert.
However, APXS can look only at the composition of rocks. It cannot perform the technical evaluation needed to detect any evidence that life once existed on Mars.
In addition to APXS, both the landing craft and the rover had camera equipment on board that beamed back panoramic views of the Martian surface and sky, which provided new insights about the planet.
The landing craft also served as a weather station, collecting information about the planet's temperature, winds and atmospheric pressure during the time it remained functioning on Mars.
