Pathfinder landed on Mars on July 4, 1997 and continued operating until September 27 of that year. The landing site is on an ancient flood plain of the Ares and Tiu outflow channels. The image provides unprecedented detail of the geology of the region and hardware on the surface. This release consists of six parts.
1. HiRISE Image (full image PSP_001890_1995): This is the entire HiRISE image. The crater at center bottom is "Big Crater," the wall of which was visible from Pathfinder, located 3 km to the north. The two bright features to the upper left of Big Crater are the Twin Peaks, also observed by Pathfinder. The bright mound to the upper right of the Twin Peaks is North Knob, seen in Pathfinder images as peaking over the horizon.
At this scale there is no obvious geologic evidence of an ancient flood. Rather, impact craters dominate the scene, attesting to an old surface. The age is probably on the order of 1.8-3.5 billion years, when the Ares and Tiu floods are estimated to have occurred. Wind-formed linear ripples and dunes are seen throughout and are concentrated within craters. Sets of polygonal ridges of enigmatic origin are seen east of the Pathfinder lander. Rocks are visible over the entire image, with heavy concentrations near fresh looking craters. Most of them are probably impact ejecta blocks.
2. Landing Site Region (940K): This is a close-up of the area in the vicinity of the Pathfinder landing site. Major features are named. The white box outlines the area of the image, discussed next, where hardware is seen.
The image shown above gives the approximate landing site (arrow) of the Mars Pathfinder in Ares Vallis. The landing point is estimated to be at 19.33 N, 33.55 W. North is up in this image, which is part of Viking 1 Orbiter frame 004A27. The large crater closest to the landing site is about 1.5 km in diameter. The image at top right shows the landing site with lines to some of the landmarks seen in the panoramas. A close-up view of the site (650 K) showing more of the sighting points is available. Below that is part of the Oxia Palus USGS shaded relief map showing the landing site and surrounding crater names. A full-resolution version of the landing site image without the arrow shown above left is also available. Below are a global view with the arrow pointing to the landing site in Ares Vallis and a wide-area view of the landing site.
Below: Pathfinder on Mars from an altitude of 177.9 miles above the surface
