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1996 · United States Air Force

Mars Pathfinder

successDelta II | Mars Pathfinder

he MPF (Mars Pathfinder) (formerly known as the Mars Environmental Survey, or MESUR Pathfinder) is the second of NASA's low-cost planetary Discovery missions. The mission consists of a stationary lander and a surface rover. The mission has the primary objective of demonstrating the feasibility of low-cost landings on and exploration of the Martian surface. This objective will be met by tests of communications between the rover and lander, and the lander and Earth, and tests of the imaging devices and sensors.

Overview

Date / time
December 4, 1996 at 06:58 AM UTC
Outcome
success
Launch site
Space Launch Complex 17B
Mission
Mars Pathfinder
Mission type
Robotic Exploration
Orbit achieved
Heliocentric N/A
Launch vehicle
Delta II 7925 →
Launch provider
United States Air Force →

Payloads deployed · 1

MARS PATHFINDER
Mars