This Independence Day, it's the United States that will play alien invader. If successful, Pathfinder would be the first earthly craft to touch Mars since NASA's twin Viking landers set down in 1976, scooping up sand yet finding no trace of living things. The area is about 525 miles southeast of where Viking 1 landed. It will be the first time a rover has explored the surface of another planet. While Sojourner cavorts and its cameras record, instruments aboard the 793-pound Pathfinder lander, which should operate for a month, will take color pictures and compile a Mars weather report.
Pathfinder heralds a new era of U.S. space exploration.
The fourth planet from the sun, Mars is considered the most Earthlike. 2 Searchable in the Basic Index and in the Additional Indexes. Region does not display in predefined formats. Not available in File 146. 8 Includes Newspaper Name, Publication Date, Edition, Section Heading, and Page Number.