Chapter 5 of 8

The station watched the sky

Lander imaging, weather measurements and radio science during surface operations

Told in Pathfinder & Sojourner’s imagined voice · the events are real · source

Large boulders are visible in this enlargement of pictures taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) lander camera on July 4, 1997.
Pathfinder & SojournerWhile the rover visited rocks, the lander watched a changing world.
NASA/JPL
01Pathfinder photographed the terrain and recorded atmospheric pressure, temperature and winds. Its scientific job was not limited to holding a ramp or passing along rover messages.
Clouds and sunsets became photographs—not guesses about the weather.
02The camera recorded clouds and sunsets. NASA's descriptions interpret the morning clouds as likely ice crystals. That is a scientific interpretation of observations, not a claim that the camera touched a cloud.
The Mars Pathfinder began the journey to Mars with liftoff atop a Delta II expendable launch vehicle from launch Complex 17B on Cape Canaveral Air Station.
Pathfinder & SojournerA gust could leave clues in several measurements at once.
NASA/MSFC
03Temperature, wind and pressure signatures helped investigators identify dust-devil events. The mission also examined magnetic airborne dust. Our teaching diagrams illustrate these methods; their curves are not recovered weather telemetry.
The radio link was carrying science even when the rover was not moving.
04Radio tracking constrained the lander's location and Mars' rotation. Geological observations also suggested running water in a warmer Martian past. Neither result was a direct sighting of liquid water or life at the 1997 landing site.

The big idea

A stationary spacecraft can investigate both the landscape and the environment. Observations and the explanations scientists draw from them must remain distinguishable.

Think about it

What can a weather sensor add to a dramatic photograph of the Martian sky?

In this chapter: Imager for Mars Pathfinder, meteorology package, radio system and solar-powered lander

Sources: Main record · 25 Years Ago: Mars Pathfinder Launches to Mars to Deploy Sojourner · NASA

Machine illustration: AI-made. Photos: NASA Image and Video Library, credited on each picture.

Chapter 5 of 8

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