By the time it stopped responding 19 years ago this week, the Pathfinder mission to Mars was a tremendous success.

The mission was composed of a lander with instruments that lived three times longer than its design life, and a robotic rover lasting 12 times as long as its design life! The lander was named Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and the rover was called Sojourner after Sojourner Truth.

Pathfinder lander

Pathfinder lander. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

Sojourner rover

Sojourner rover. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

More than 16,500 images were sent back from the lander and 550 from the rover. Pathfinder provided evidence that suggested the planet was warm and wet sometime in its history. Furthermore, liquid water had been present as well as a thicker atmosphere.

Among its many findings, Pathfinder showed us that dust on Mars has magnetic, composite particles in it. The mission found that the atmosphere was more clear than anticipated. It also taught us that the way in which rocks were distributed matched deposits related to a flood.

NASA’s Mars Pathfinder was launched on December 4, 1996 and landed on our neighboring planet on July 4, 1997.

The mission was the first to be completed as part of NASA’s Discovery Program. The program was designed to send low-cost missions to deep space that could be developed quickly and have focused science goals.

Mars from Sojourner rover

Mars from Sojourner rover. Image Credit: NASA/JPL

The mission gave us a deeper understanding of Mars’ history, and future missions will one day send humans to the red planet and enhance our knowledge even more.

Leanr more about Pathfinder at NASA.gov.