The Mars Pathfinder mission of the Sojourner rover landed on mars on July 4, 1997. Sojourner rolled around the planet's surface taking scientific readings of various bits of rock and soil. The robot lasted until at least September, when communications with Earth were cut off due to failing power.
Who Designed the Sojourner Rover and When Was it Launched?
Sojourner was designed by a large NASA team lead by Jacob Matijevic and Donna Shirley. Once the completion of the Sojourner was achieved, it was then set off on December 4, 1996. The careful design by Jacob Matijevic and Donna Shirly allowed the rover to land safely on Mars.
What Did We Learn During the Pathfinder Mission?
Sojouner traveled a total of about 100 meters (328 feet) in 230 commanded maneuvers, performed more than 16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, carried out soil mechanics and technology experiments, and explored about 250 square meters (2691 square feet) of the Martian surface. During the mission, the spacecraft relayed an unprecedented 2.3 gigabits of data, including 16,500 images from the lander's camera, 550 images from the rover camera, 16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, and 8.5 million measurements of atmospheric pressure, temperature and wind.
Other Various Pictures of the Sojourner Rover:
Sources:
Robot Hall of Fame
NASA
Pathfinder Mission