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Pathfinder Mission Continues

After nearly three months on the surface, the Mars Pathfinder lander and Sojourner rover continue to return data on the Martian environment as the rover's activities enter a new phase.
     Sojourner completed last week a detailed study of a large collection of rocks dubbed the "Rock Garden" when it finished an analysis of a rock named Chimp. The rover is now scheduled to take a 50-meter (164-foot) clockwise turn around the lander, performing technology experiments.
     "The lander and rover performance continues to be nothing short of extraordinary," said Pathfinder project manager Brian Muirhead. "We have proven that we know how to design robust robots to operate in the hostile environment of Mars."
     The Pathfinder lander, also known as the Sagan Memorial Station, continues to send back high-resolution color images. The images will make up the "super pan", a 360-degree panoramic view of the landing site using images taken with 12 different filters.
     Muirhead said the super pan, which contains 1 gigabit of imaging data, is 80 percent complete. The remaining images should be returned by the end of October.
     Both the rover and lander continue to perform well, although the batteries in both spacecraft have worn down. The batteries in the rover have been completely depleted, keeping it from using its spectrometer overnight. The lander's batteries have been discharged to 30 percent of their maximum, limiting nighttime scientific activities.
     Both vehicles have solar panels, however, and can operate normally during the day. "If everything else continues to operate properly, we could continue conducting surface experiments for months," said mission manager Richard Cook.

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