The Viking program concluded in 1982. Fourteen years would
pass before another successful exploration mission to Mars was executed. During
this time, four space craft were sent to Mars, one American and three Russian.
In January 29, 1989, the two
Russian Phobos 2 space craft entered Mars orbit. Contact was lost with these
vehicles shortly before they were to pass within thirty meters of the Martian
moon Phobos and release two landers. In August, 1993, the American Mars
Observer probe was lost as it was preparing to enter Mars Orbit. In November,
1996, the Russian Mars 96 probe failed to enter into a Mars cruise trajectory,
after reentering the Earth’s atmosphere, crashed somewhere in the Pacific
Ocean.
Taking note that planetary probes, such as Galileo, Cassini,
and the lost Mars Observer, had tended to cost in the range of a billion
dollars and more and take almost a decade to build and prepare for launch, NASA
instituted a policy called “Faster, Better, Cheaper.” A series of probes would
be built that would cost than a few hundred million, including launch and
operations costs, and would take two or three years to prepare. Instead of a
few, large, expensive probes being launched over a long period of time, many,
smaller, less expensive proves would be launched instead.
Mars Pathfinder
The first Mars mission to be executed under the Faster,
Better, Cheaper policy was the Mars Pathfinder. Mars Pathfinder consisted of a
lander that would have its touch down on the Martian surface softened by an air
bag and a mini rover named Mars Sojourner, named after the African American
historical figure Sojourner Truth.
Mars Pathfinder was launched on December 4th, 1996 and landed near the mouth
of the Ares Valles valley on July 4th,
1997. The lander and the
Sojourner rover each contained a camera and between them returned over 16,000
images from the Martian surface,. The Sojourner rover executed fifteen chemical
analyses of various rocks in the vicinity of the landing site. Data on winds
and other weather phenomenon, including several dust devils, were
returned. Evidence of running water on
the Martian surface in the ancient past was uncovered.