Pitted Rock Named “Ender”

This image was taken by the Sojourner rover's right front camera on Sol 33. The rock in the foreground, nicknamed "Ender," is pitted and marked by a subtle horizontal texture. The bright material on the top of the rock is probably wind-deposited dust. The Pathfinder Lander is seen in the distance at right. The lander camera is the cylindrical object on top of the deployed mast.

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 managed 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.