The front cameras aboard the rover Sojourner imaged several prominent rocks on Sol 44. The highly-textured rock at left is Wedge, and in the background from left to right are 'Shark,' 'Half-Dome,' and 'Moe.' Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997.

August 19, 1997

The front cameras aboard the rover Sojourner imaged several prominent rocks on Sol 44. The highly-textured rock at left is Wedge, and in the background from left to right are "Shark," "Half-Dome," and "Moe." The rectangular rock at right is Flat Top, which earlier close-up images revealed to be made up of elongated pits, possibly made by vesicles from volcanic outgassing or etches caused by weathering.

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.

Credits

NASA/JPL

ENLARGE

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