On July 4th,
1997, using its own array of
fireworks,
a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the
Mars Pathfinder
spacecraft bounced like a
giant beach ball
at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars
at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time.
After its then novel
airbag-assisted landing sequence
was completed,
Pathfinder transmitted
this color mosaic
to mission operators on Earth.
In the scene from another world,
the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground,
crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder.
About the size
of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became
the first successful Martian rover.
Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and
the rock-strewn terrain of the
Ares Vallis
floodplain.
In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky.
The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the
Carl Sagan Memorial Station.