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Liputan6.com, D.C – After traveling 120 million miles in seven months, the spacecraft Pathfinder belong NASA became the first US spacecraft to land on Mars in more than two decades.
In an ingenious and cost-effective landing procedure, Pathfinder uses a parachute to slow its approach to the Martian surface and then deploys airbags to withstand the impact.
Landing for the first time in Vallis at 40 miles per hour, the spacecraft briefly bounced high into the Martian atmosphere 16 times before finally making a safe landing.
On July 5, the Pathfinder lander was renamed Sagan Memorial Station in honor of the late American astronomer Carl Sagan, and the next day Sojourner, the first remote-controlled interplanetary rover, blasted off the station.
Soujourner, who covered a total distance of 171 feet during the 30-day mission, sent back a wealth of information about the chemical components of rock and soil in the area. In addition, nearly 10,000 images of the Martian landscape were taken.
The US $ 150 million Mars Pathfinder mission was hailed as a victory for NASA.
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