Mars group > Research > Missions > Pathfinder

Mars Pathfinder

The Mars Pathfinder mission consisted of a lander and a small rover called Sojourner. The science goals of the mission were to investigate:

• Surface morphology and geology at meter scale
• Petrology and geochemistry of surface materials
• Magnetic properties and soil mechanics of the surface
• Atmospheric structure as well as diurnal and seasonal meteorological variations
• Rotational and orbital dynamics of Mars

The Mars/Mössbauer group led the magnetic properties experiment on Pathfinder.

Magnetic properties experiment on the Mars Pathfinder Lander

The magnetic properties experiment on the Mars Pathfinder Lander had three parts:

• A pair of magnet arrays each consisting of five magnets of different strength
• A ‘tip-plate’ magnet consisting of a strong magnet mounted beneath a wedged surface to create a varying magnetic field strength and gradient over the surface
• Magnets mounted at the foot of each ramp, which allowed the small rover, Sojourner, to access the ground.

All the Mars Pathfinder magnets were exposed to the Martian atmosphere allowing airborne dust to accumulate on them for the entire mission (83 sols (Martian days)). The magnets were imaged at regular intervals by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder.

More information on the Mars Pathfinder Lander can be found at the Mars Pathfinder homepage.