One advantage of Mars Pathfinder over its Viking predecessors is the rover, Sojourner, which is proving to be a capable miniature geologist. Sojourner is giving the engineering team a wealth of data and experience that will be useful when the next rover reaches the red planet in 2002. The image reveals drifts of wind-blown sediment that are invisible to the imager on board the lander. The drifts are less than 40 cm high. The image was obtained from Sojourner's right camera on September 19, 1997.
Illumination is from upper left.
Sojourner began examining the Rock Garden site south of the lander in August. It continued this exploration into mid-September. The solar-powered rover is now operating only during the day. A battery designed to allow for night time operation of the APXS quit around Sol 60, yet it lasted about 52 Sols longer than originally projected. Although Scooby Doo is too well cemented for the rover wheels to scratch, the APXS data suggest it is more like the soils than the rocks because its chemistry matches that of the soil.