[meteorite-list] New NASA Orbiter Sees Details of 1997 Pathfinder Site

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:10:58 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <200701112310.PAA05218_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2007-005

New NASA Orbiter Sees Details of 1997 Pathfinder Site
January 11, 2007

The high-resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has
imaged the 1997 landing site of NASA's Mars Pathfinder, revealing new
details of hardware on the surface and the geology of the region.

The new image from the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science
Experiment is available on the Internet at

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia09105.html

and at links from

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu .

The Pathfinder mission's small rover, Sojourner, appears to have moved
closer to the stationary lander after the final data transmission from
the lander, based on tentative identification of the rover in the image.
Pathfinder landed on July 4, 1997, and transmitted data for 12 weeks.
Unlike the two larger rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, currently active
on Mars, Sojourner could communicate only with the lander, not directly
with Earth.

The lander's ramps, science deck and portions of the airbags can be
discerned in the new image. The parachute and backshell used in the
spacecraft's descent lie to the south, behind a hill from the viewpoint
of the lander. Four bright features may be portions of the heat shield.

Rob Manning, Mars program chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion
Laboratory, Pasadena, said, "The new image provides information about
Pathfinder's landing and should help confirm our reconstruction of the
descent as well as give us insights into the landing and the airbag
bounces."

Dr. Alfred McEwen of the University of Arizona, Tucson, principal
investigator for the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, said
"Pathfinder's landing site is one of the most-studied places on Mars.
Making connections between this new orbital image and the geological
information collected at ground level aids our interpretation of orbital
images of other places."

For more information on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mro .

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute
of Technology in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the
prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High
Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of
Arizona, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology
Corp., Boulder, Colo.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Dwayne Brown 202-358-1726
NASA Headquarters, Washington

Lori Stiles 520-626-4402
University of Arizona, Tucson

2007-005
Received on Thu 11 Jan 2007 06:10:58 PM PST