July 24, 1997
Every candle on your cake is a tiny imitation of the stars that made you possible.
Mars Pathfinder's Landing Site
Birthday · July 24, 1997
A little universe, just for you
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APOD published July 24, 1997. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Where is Mars Pathfinder? Follow the arrow in the above picture taken by the Viking Orbiter in 1976. From the surface Mars appears covered with rocks, but from orbit Mars appears covered with craters. However, several familiar features are visible in this photograph. To the left (west) of Sagan Memorial Station are the now-familiar twin peaks that dominate the horizon of many Pathfinder photographs. These hills are about one kilometer from the landing site, twice the planned range of Sojourner. Two craters loom nearby: a small one to the east not easily visible here, and a big one to the south of Pathfinder. The landing site is in the dry flood channel named Ares Vallis.