PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
JET PROPULSION LABORATORY
CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
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PASADENA, CALIF. 91109. TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov


PHOTO CAPTION                 MRPS #80811                                                             
                              July 4, 1997  (Sol 1)
                              Pathfinder's rover, airbags, & 
                              Martian terrain

     This is one of the first pictures taken by the camera on the Mars 
Pathfinder lander shortly after its touchdown at 10:07 AM Pacific 
Daylight Time on July 4, 1997.  The small rover, named Sojourner, 
is seen in the foreground in its position on a solar panel of the 
lander.  The white material on either side of the rover is part 
of the deflated airbag system used to absorb the shock of the 
landing.  Between the rover and the horizon is the rock-strewn 
martian surface.  Two hills are seen in the right distance, 
profiled against the light brown sky.

     Pathfinder, a low-cost Discovery mission, is the first of a new 
fleet of spacecraft that are planned to explore Mars over the 
next ten years.   Mars Global Surveyor, already en route, arrives 
at Mars on September 11 to begin a two year orbital 
reconnaissance of the planet's composition, topography, and 
climate.   Additional orbiters and landers will follow every 26 
months.
 
     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.  The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was 
developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary 
Laboratory under contract to JPL.   Peter Smith is the Principal 
Investigator.
 
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