Message:25218 In: TODAY.WW
From: KF5JRVDate: Sat, 04 Jul 26 08:31:00 Z
Newsgroups: TODAY.WW
Subject: Today in History - Jul 04
Message-ID: <27724_KF5JRV>
Path: N2MH4|N3HYM|W0ARP|KE0GB|KF5JRV
R:260704/0840Z 33183@N2MH4.#SENC.NC.USA.NOAM LinBPQ6.0.24
R:260704/0839Z 8915@N3HYM.#FRDK.MD.USA.NOAM BPQ6.0.25
R:260704/0839Z 42292@W0ARP.#NCO.CO.USA.NOAM LinBPQ6.0.25
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R:260704/0831Z 27724@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.24
After traveling 120 million miles in seven months, NASA’s Mars Pathfinder becomes the first U.S. spacecraft to land on Mars in more than two decades. In an ingenious, cost-saving landing procedure, Pathfinder used parachutes to slow its approach to the Martian surface and then deployed airbags to cushion its impact. Colliding with the Ares Vallis floodplain at 40 miles an hour, the spacecraft bounced high into the Martian atmosphere 16 times before safely coming to rest.
On July 5, 1997 the Pathfinder lander was renamed Sagan Memorial Station in honor of the late American astronomer Carl Sagan, and the next day Sojourner, the first remote-control interplanetary rover, rolled off the station. Soujourner, which traveled a total of 171 feet during its 30-day mission, sent back a wealth of information about the chemical components of rock and soil in the area. In addition, nearly 10,000 images of the Martian landscape were taken.
The Mars Pathfinder mission, which cost just $150 million, was hailed as a triumph for NASA.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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