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PIA00973: Overhead view of Pathfinder Landing Site
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Pathfinder (MPF)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Pathfinder Lander
 Instrument:  Imager for Mars Pathfinder 
 Product Size:  900 x 900 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Ames Research Center 
 Producer ID:  MRPS84915
 Addition Date:  1997-10-14
 Primary Data Set:  MARS_PATHFINDER_PAGE
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA00973.tif (1.686 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA00973.jpg (288.5 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This image, prepared by Pathfinder scientists at NASA/ Ames Research Center, is a view of the landing site from above. Seen in the lower right is Mermaid dune, with its long axis oriented northwest-southeast and its steeper side, the presumed slipface, toward the southwest. Dunes like Mermaid, the depositional tails and erosional moats associated with rocks in the area, and the fluted and polished surfaces on several boulders at the landing site all indicate an effective wind that blows from the northeast to the southwest.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Ames Research Center

Image Addition Date:
1997-10-14