Mars Pathfinder lander/rover mission

Later successful U.S. landers included the Mars Pathfinder lander/rover mission (which utilized air bags rather than retro-rockets during the last phase of its landing) and the Phoenix, which studied the geologic history of water on Mars, its involvement in Martian climate change, and the planet s past or future habitability. 

Backshell—Upper shell of the Mars Pathfinder entry vehicle, enclosing the lander/rover vehicle along with the heat shield during the cruise and entry phases of the mission. Entry braking rockets are also mounted to the backshell. 

Abstract NASA has used aerogel in several space exploration missions over the last two decades. Aerogel has been used as a hypervelocity particle capture medium (Stardust) and as thermal insulation for the Mars Pathfinder, Mars Exploration Rovers, and Mars Science Lander. Future applications of aerogel are also discussed and include the proposed use of aerogel as a sample collection medium to return upper atmosphere particles from Mars to earth and as thermal insulation in thermal-to-electric generators for future space missions and terrestrial waste-heat recovery technology. 

The first successful landing on Mars was made by the two NASA Mars Viking 1 and 2 landers in 1976. Included in the payload were a gas chromatograph, mass spectrometer. X-ray fluorimeter, and three life detection instruments. Additional surface missions in 1997 (Pathfinder/Sojoumer Rover) and 2004 (Opportunity and... 

The next scheduled lander mission to Mars, Mars Exploration Rover, is due to attempt touchdown in January, 2004. Twin Mars Exploration Rovers will land at separate locations using the Pathfinder-tested airbag... 

Rover. Although Russian Mars 2 and Mars 3 descent modules brought rovers with them as early as 1971, no rover was successfully deployed on Mars until the U.S. Pathfinder mission of 1997 deployed its Sojourner rover. Able to travel about a half kilometer, or one-third of a mile from the lander, the Sojourner rover returned 550 photographs to Earth and the data from chemical analyses of sixteen locations on the Martian surface. 

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