December 4: Launch of the Mars Pathfinder Mission (1996)
Prayer Idea
Pray for people who are studying and exploring Mars.
History Note
People have been fascinated with the planets in our solar system for millenia. Since the 1960s, humans have attempted to explore the planet Mars using orbiters, landers, and rovers.
The Soviet Union made several failed attempts to reach Mars in the early 1960s. The first U.S. attempt also failed. Mariner 4 was the first man-made object to reach Mars and successfully transmit images back.
Mariner 4 transmitted 21 pictures back to earth. This is one of them. Image courtesy NASA.
The Soviet Union successfully landed a spacecraft on Mars in 1971, but it only operated for a brief time. The United States launched Viking 1 and Viking 2 in 1975. Both spacecraft landed on Mars in 1976. These stationary landers collected and transmitted information back to Earth until 1982 and 1980 respectively.
On December 4, 1996, NASA launched the Pathfinder mission to Mars with an extra passenger on board: the Sojourner rover. The spacecraft landed on Mars on July 4, 1997. The Sojourner rover (named after Sojourner Truth) rolled down the lander’s ramp the next day. For the next several weeks, Pathfinder and Sojourner collected information about Martian weather and geology.
India, Russia, the United Arab Emirates, and China have also sent successful missions to Mars. Research continues on the possibility of bringing rock samples from Mars back to Earth and of sending humans to the planet.
This photo shows the Sojourner rover on Mars. Image courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.
Learn More
This news story talks about the landing of Pathfinder and Sojourner on Mars in 1997. (It talks about looking for evidence of life on Mars.)
Find more resources at Homeschool History.
