PIA01137: Sojourner Rover Tracks in Compressible Soil
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Pathfinder (MPF)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Pathfinder Rover
 Instrument:  Rover Cameras 
 Product Size:  288 x 288 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Producer ID:  P49707 MRPS86813
 Addition Date:  1998-01-07
 Other  
Information: 
Science Magazine, 5 December, 1997
 Primary Data Set:  MARS_PATHFINDER_PAGE
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA01137.tif (81.45 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA01137.jpg (15.58 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:

Sojourner's observations in the Ares region on Mars raise and answer questions about the origins of the rocks and other deposits found there. Deposits are not the same everywhere. In compressible soil, a rover wheel produced ruts with steep walls, marginal slumps, and nearly perfect reflective casts of the spacing between the cleats.

NOTE: original caption as published in Science magazine

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

Image Addition Date:
1998-01-07