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Planetary News: Mars Pathfinder and Sojourner (1997)Planetfest Live Update: Sojourner and SaganInternational Planetary Conference Beamed Live Images around the World -- Including News about Pathfinder and Its RoverJuly 6, 1997 Thousands gathered yesterday and today at Planetfest '97 in Pasadena, California to witness Earth's continuing invasion of Mars with the Pathfinder spacecraft. The day's highlights included the first small steps of the spacecraft's rover -- Sojourner -- and the naming of the Pathfinder lander in honor of Carl Sagan. The day also featured a surprise announcement for Planetary Society members, and all of these events were broadcast in live video and audio from this web site. Sojourner Freed on MarsAfter a tense 12-hour silence from Sojourner, NASA scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California were finally able to communicate with the Mars rover late yesterday afternoon (PST). With the rover successfully sending its signals to the lander (which in turn sends the signals to Earth), Sojourner was ready to roll down a ramp onto martian soil, an operation that took about four minutes. This short time marked the beginning of the rover's historic geologic exploration of the Red Planet, and Sojourner is in fact the first rover humankind has ever operated on Mars. Engineers are not yet sure what caused the temporary communication lapse. One JPL engineer likened it to a temporary freeze on a personal computer. But mission engineers are confident that, if the communication black-out occurs again, the system will be able to correct the problem. Sagan Lands on MarsAlso at Planetfest '97, in a moving tribute to the famed astronomer, author, and Planetary Society founder, NASA Administrator Dan Goldin announced that the Mars Pathfinder lander has been named the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. "Mars Pathfinder has put us back where we belong," said Louis Friedman, executive director of the Planetary Society. "We are once again explorers on a distant world. But in the midst of our joy, we also feel Carl's absence. This is the first arrival of a United States spacecraft at Mars that Carl ever missed, so it is a wonderful tribute that he still will be included by NASA's naming the Mars Pathfinder lander in his memory." Present at the tribute were Goldin, NASA's Tony Spear, astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz, Planetary Society President Bruce Murray, and several members of Sagan's family, including his wife and collaborator, Ann Druyan, who graciously and tearfully accepted this honor on Dr. Sagan's behalf. Video of the ceremony was broadcast live over the Internet on this web site. A Bonus for Planetary Society MembersAnother major announcement from Planetfest '97: Many members of the Planetary Society also made it to Mars in more than spirit. A few years ago the names of 100,000 Society members were placed on a chip that flew on Russia's Mars '96 mission as part of MAPEX -- the microelectronics and photonics experiment devised by JPL as a passive recorder of incoming radiation at the martian surface. Although Mars '96 was lost shortly after launch, JPL made several MAPEX spares, and one was flown on Mars Pathfinder -- complete with the list of the 100,000 names of Planetary Society members. The Planetary Society has been thrilled to broadcast Planetfest '97 and frequent updates about Mars Pathfinder LIVE over the Internet. |
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