Pathfinder - Ares Vallis

Pathfinder, set down in Ares Vallis, Mars, on July 4th, 1997. The robotic explorer Sojourner, the first on Mars, explored Mars for 84 days, 12 times its design lifetime. Pathfinder itself transmitted information about Mars for 4 months, 3 times its design lifetime. Mars Pathfinder returned 2.6 billion bits of information, including more than 16,000 images from the lander and 550 images from the rover, as well as more than 15 chemical analyses of rocks and extensive data on winds and other weather factors.

Ares Vallis appears to be an ancient flood plain.

Below are images of Ares Vallis. At left is a MOLA image showing where Pathfinder landed. The elevations are shown on the key below. At right is a Viking 1 image of Ares Vallis with the landing ellipse marked. If you click on the images, you will be taken to larger versions.

MOLA	Viking 1 image

Elevation Key for MOLA image.

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