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Mars Pathfinder sends first snapshots
NASA terms landing 'way beyond our expectations'
July 4, 1997
Web posted at: 9:07 p.m. EDT (0107 GMT)PASADENA, California (CNN) -- The Mars Pathfinder space probe has started sending pictures back to Earth, after making a landing on the surface of Mars that one NASA scientist describes as "way beyond our expectations."
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, received the first images from Pathfinder on Friday evening at about 7:35 p.m. EDT (2335 GMT).
Pathfinder image gallery
The initial pictures were a series of shots taken around the edges of the spacecraft. They showed the air bags that were used to help Pathfinder land on the surface, with vistas of the rocky Martian surface in the background.
The pictures started arriving less than seven hours after Pathfinder landed on Mars and about two hours after NASA scientists first started receiving streams of data from the probe. Throughout the day, with each encouraging development, people in the Pasadena control room cheered and hugged each other.
The initial data showed that there were no discernible problems with the spacecraft.
"We know we're down, and we know we're healthy," said Brian Muirhead, flight systems manager at JPL. "This is way beyond our expectations. The whole day has just been extraordinary."
The next milestone for Pathfinder will be the deployment of Sojourner, the mobile planetary rover carried to Mars inside the landing craft. It is scheduled to roll down a ramp and make its first forays onto the Martian surface at about midnight EDT (0400 GMT).
Landing ends two-decade lull in Mars exploration
The probe landed in a rough, rocky flood plain called Ares Vallis at about 1:07 p.m. EDT (1707 GMT), ending a two-decade lull in Mars exploration. The last time a spacecraft from Earth landed on Mars was in 1976.
JPL scientists had expected that it could take two hours or more after the landing before they would be able to receive signals from Pathfinder, indicating it had survived intact. But to their surprise, Pathfinder kept sending signals almost continuously, allowing NASA to declare the landing a success within three minutes.
Buffeted by a series of air bags that inflated just before landing, Pathfinder crash-landed onto Mars and bounced to a stop. Early data indicated Pathfinder bounced at least three times, with the first bounce throwing the craft about 15 meters (50 feet) up into the Martian atmosphere.
If the four-sided probe had landed on the wrong side, Pathfinder had the capability to right itself. But in a sign of just how well the landing went, it actually came to a stop right side up, tilted only about two degrees from a perfectly level landing.
That nearly ideal landing was what put the spacecraft's antenna in correct position to maintain virtually continuous communication with Earth, according to Rob Manning, flight systems chief engineer.
"The little engine that could, did," he said. "We couldn't be happier."
After hurtling through millions of miles of space since its December launch, Pathfinder arrived on Mars less than a second from its projected landing time. It landed about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the center of the elliptical zone on the surface where the NASA team had been aiming.
The first streams of data also showed that the atmosphere of Mars was somewhat thinner than expected. The temperature of -63 degrees Fahrenheit (-53 degrees Celsius) was also about 20 degrees warmer than the temperature recorded during earlier Mars probes.
Vice president offers country's congratulations
NASA officials in Pasadena received a congratulatory phone call from Vice President Al Gore shortly after the data began to flow back to Earth.
"The whole country is just very proud of what you all are doing and have done today," Gore said. "What a great way to celebrate America's birthday and celebrate our country's know-how and ingenuity as we press forward to new heights and new frontiers."
July 4 is the Independence Day holiday in the United States, the 221st anniversary of the country's founding.
Technology primary focus of mission
The primary focus of the Pathfinder mission is to gather data about what kinds of technology will be needed in designing future Mars probes, which scientists hope may lead to a manned mission by as soon as 2012.
Sojourner will also perform an analysis on the Martian surface to determine the chemical composition of its features. Other experiments will also explore the feasibility of using solar energy to turn Mars' atmosphere into rocket fuel, a process which may prove necessary if spacecraft are ever to fly from Mars back to Earth.
Both the main landing craft and Sojourner also have cameras on board and will beam back detailed images of the planet's features.
The mission is designed to last a month before the solar-powered Pathfinder reaches the end of its life. But scientists hope that the landing craft and rover will outperform their scheduled life span.
Pathfinder is not designed to answer the provocative question of whether life once existed on Mars, because it will not be returning to Earth with the soil or rock samples that would be needed for a definitive answer.
But the data collected on this mission could provide new clues to the answer, as well as giving scientists the information they need for future missions that could offer definite proof of Martian life.
- Message Board: Destination Mars
- CNN In-Depth: Space
Related stories:
- NASA: Pathfinder has landed - July 4, 1997
- Pathfinder speeds toward Martian surface - July 4, 1997
- Pathfinder nears its destiny - July 3, 1997
- Scientists giddy as Pathfinder nears Mars - July 1, 1997
- NASA hope third time's the charm for Mars probe launch - December 3, 1996
- Pathfinder to roam Mars in search of possible life - October 1, 1996
Related sites:
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- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Mars Pathfinder Mission
- Mars Global Surveyor
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