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PIA04305: "Marie Curie" During ORT6
'Marie Curie' sits on the lander petal prior to deployment during the pre-launch Operations Readiness Test (ORT) 6. NASA's Pathfinder, a low-cost Discovery mission, is the first of a new fleet of spacecraft that are planned to explore Mars.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Mission:  Mars Pathfinder (MPF) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Pathfinder Lander
 Instrument:  Imager for Mars Pathfinder 
 Product Size:  1020 x 544 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  California Institute of Technology 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA04305.tif (1.667 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA04305.jpg (90.5 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:

"Marie Curie" sits on the lander petal prior to deployment during the pre launch Operations Readiness Test (ORT) 6.

Pathfinder, a low-cost Discovery mission, is the first of a new fleet of spacecraft that are planned to explore Mars over thenext ten years. Mars Global Surveyor, already en route, arrives at Mars on September 11 to begin a two year orbital reconnaissance of the planet's composition, topography, and climate. Additional orbiters and landers will follow every 26 months.

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 an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.

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/Caltech

Image Addition Date:
2003-02-03