The photo attached to this story was taken by MRO of the entire landing site. The original photo is 4000 x 4000 pixels, but I’ve clipped down the parts that include the lander. The full image also contains the heatshield, parachute and backshell.
Pathfinder landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, and lasted for about 3 months. The tiny Sojourner rover wandered around the lander, analyzing rocks and transmitting pictures back to Earth using the Pathfinder lander as a relay.
NASA scientists will be able to use this image to recreate the lander’s descent, to improve their calculations of the Martian atmosphere, spacecraft performance, and operation of the landing system.
Original Source: HIRISE News Release
The Search for Life in our Solar System leads seekers to strange places. From our…
Few things in life are certain. But it seems highly probable that people will explore…
Space debris is a growing problem, so companies are working on ways to mitigate it.…
Few space images are as iconic as those of the Horsehead Nebula. Its shape makes…
It stands to reason that stars formed from the same cloud of material will have…
We go about our daily lives sheltered under an invisible magnetic field generated deep inside…