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Mission record

Mars Pathfinder

Also known as MESUR Pathfinder, Carl Sagan Memorial Station, Pathfinder, MarsPathfinder

NASA-Office of Space Science · Launched

Explore trajectory

Completed · Success

The Mars Pathfinder was the second of NASA's low-cost planetary Discovery missions to be launched. The mission consists of a stationary lander and a surface rover, and had the primary objective of demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost landings on and exploration of the Martian surface. The spacecraft entered the Martian atmosphere on 4 July 1997 directly from its approach hyperbola at about 7300 m/s without going into orbit around the planet, and the airbag-encased lander bounced about 12 meters into the air, bouncing at least another 15 times and rolling before coming to rest. Images were taken and experiments performed by the lander and rover until 27 September 1997 when communications were lost for unknown reasons. The lander has been named the Sagan Memorial Station.

Destinations
Launch vehicle
Delta II 7925
Launch site
Cape Canaveral, United States
Countries
United States
Mission types
Lander, Rover

Chronology

Mission timeline

  1. Launch

    Launched on a Delta II 7925

    Mars Pathfinder was launched on a Delta 7925 (a Delta II Lite launch vehicle with nine strap-on solid-rocket boosters and a Star 48 (PAM-D) third stage) at 6:58:00 UT (1:58 a.m. EST) on 4 December 1996, and the launch/orbital information page gives the same instant as 1996-12-04T06:58:00Z. That page also prints Decay Date: 1996-07-04, five months before the launch it prints at the head of the same page and one year before the 4 July 1997 landing; the wrong value is recorded rather than repaired, and this record takes the landing date from the master catalog page.

    Earth

  2. Landing

    Bounced to a stop in Ares Vallis

    The lander dropped to the ground in 3.8 seconds and impacted at 16:56:55 UT (12:56:55 p.m. EDT) on 4 July 1997 at a velocity of 18 m/s and bounced about 12 meters (40 feet) into the air, bouncing at least another 15 times and rolling before coming to rest approximately 2.5 minutes after impact and about 1 km from the initial impact site. The launch/orbital information page places the lander at Latitude: 19.330 degrees, Longitude: 33.550 degrees with an epoch beginning 1997-07-04 16:56:00, one round minute before the second-precision time the master catalog page prints.

    Mars

  3. Deployment

    Sojourner rolled onto the surface

    After some maneuvers to clear an airbag out of the way, ramps were deployed and the rover, stowed against one of the petals, rolled onto the surface on 6 July at about 05:40 UT (1:40 a.m. EDT). NSSDCA gives the rover its own page under the name Sojourner Rover, which this record models as a vehicle of the lander rather than as a mission of its own. GCAT deepcat gives the rover as D00734, Name Sojourner, PLName MFEX Rover, parent D00727, and the cruise stage as D00729, which is where this record's third vehicle comes from.

    Mars

  4. Loss of contact

    Communications lost for unknown reasons

    Images were taken and experiments performed by the lander and rover until 27 September 1997 when communications were lost for unknown reasons. The landing site in the Ares Vallis region of Mars is at 19.33 N, 33.55 W. The lander has been named the Sagan Memorial Station.

    Mars

Mission architecture

Vehicles

  • Sagan Memorial Station · Lander

    Destinations: Mars

    • Sojourner Rover · Rover

      Destinations: Mars

  • Mars Pathfinder cruise stage · Other

Trajectory record

Trajectory dataset not yet available

No verified trajectory dataset is committed for this mission, so Mission Atlas renders no path.

Provenance

Sources

Each source is listed once and labeled with the mission, event, trajectory, or destination/body context it supports.

Data verified through September 2, 2026