Pathfinder Landing Accelerations

This figure shows RSS acceleration from the three Pathfinder science accelerometers plotted as a function of time during the Pathfinder spacecraft landing. Specific features are airbag deployment (1194 seconds), RAD motor firing (1198 seconds), the cutting of the bridal (1200 seconds), the first bounce (1204 seconds), and the second bounce (1210 seconds). 15 bounces are clearly shown before the high rate (32 Hz) data sampling period ends. Pathfinder is thought to have bounced and rolled for another 1 minute before coming to rest. The height of the peak shows how hard the lander bounced, and the time between peaks shows how high the bounce was. (For example 6 seconds = 16.7 m, 5 seconds = 11.6 m, 4 seconds = 7.4 m, 3 seconds = 4.2 m, and 2 seconds = 1.9 m.)

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.