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The small six-wheeled Sojourner rover still on the Pathfinder lander, with red rocky Martian ground behind.

Landed: 4 July 1997Status: Not working any more

Sojourner rover and Pathfinder lander

Image: NASA/JPL

Spot on Mars:Ares Vallis

The lander bounced across the ground inside its airbags about 15 times, as high as 15 metres, before it stopped. On its second day on Mars, Sojourner rolled down a ramp and became the first rover on Mars.

Flat map of Mars with a marker at the Ares Vallis site, 19.33° N, 33.55° W.
Ares Vallis19.33° N, 33.55° WA flat map of the whole of Mars, like a world map of Earth. The dot marks where Sojourner rover and Pathfinder lander can be found.

The big map

Where Sojourner rover and Pathfinder lander can be found on Mars

This is the whole of Mars, unrolled flat like a world map of Earth. The left and right edges are really the same line on the round planet. The lines are the coordinates , every 30°. Drag the map to look around, pick a spot, then follow its dashed lines to the numbers on the edges.

Where the mission ended

Flat map of Mars with 1 numbered spot, listed below the map.

The story

Why did it go?

Mars Pathfinder was a test of a cheaper new way to land on Mars, using airbags. Its key goal was to land a small rover on Mars and drive it around.

The lander bounced across the ground inside its airbags about 15 times, as high as 15 metres, before it stopped. On its second day on Mars, Sojourner rolled down a ramp and became the first rover on Mars.

Technicians close the metal petals of the Pathfinder lander, with Sojourner inside.(opens larger view)

Before launch: technicians close the lander's petals around Sojourner.

Image: KSC

By the numbers

The mission in numbers

launch year
1996
from arrival to the end of the mission
85 days
mass
10.6 kg
type of mission
Robotic
objects listed as left behind
2

Timeline

The journey, step by step

  1. 4 December 1996

    Launch

  2. 4 July 1997

    Landing

  3. 27 September 1997

    Mission ends

Still there today

What did it leave behind?

  • Status: Not working any more

    Sojourner rover

    The first rover on Mars. It drove about 100 m in total and stayed within about 12 m of the lander.

  • Status: Not working any more

    Pathfinder lander

    Renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. Contact was lost on 27 September 1997.

In pictures

Take a closer look

Sojourner still latched to a lander petal, with a deflated airbag and rocks around it.(opens larger view)

Day one on Mars: Sojourner still latched to the lander.

Image: NASA/JPL

Black-and-white view from orbit of the Ares Vallis landing area.(opens larger view)

The Pathfinder landing site, seen by the Mars Orbiter Camera.

Image: NASA/JPL/MSSS

Science legacy

What did we learn?

The mission sent back more than 16,500 pictures from the lander and 550 from the rover, plus more than 15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil. The results suggested that Mars was once warm and wet.

The Sojourner rover on the Martian ground after rolling off the lander.(opens larger view)

Sojourner on Mars, newly rolled off the lander.

Image: NASA/JPL

Did you know?

Sojourner weighed 10.6 kg and stood just 30 cm tall. It was named after Sojourner Truth, an American civil-rights campaigner.

Sources and fact-check