Pathfinder Air Bags
Description: Engineers tested these huge, multi-lobed air bags, which enveloped and protected the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft before it impacted the surface of Mars. The air bags, manufactured by ILC Dover of Frederica, Delaware, are composed of four large bags with six smaller, interconnected spheres within each bag. The bags measure 5 meters (17 feet) tall and about 5 meters (17 feet) in diameter. As Pathfinder is descending to the Martian surface on a parachute, an onboard altimeter inside the lander will monitor its distance from the ground. The computer will inflate these large air bags about 100 meters (330 feet) above the surface of Mars. The mission, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was launched on December 4, 1996.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: GPN-2000-000484
Date: June 14, 1995
Pathfinder Air Bags
Description: Engineers tested these huge, multi-lobed air bags, which enveloped and protected the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft before it impacted the surface of Mars. The air bags, manufactured by ILC Dover of Frederica, Delaware, are composed of four large bags with six smaller, interconnected spheres within each bag. The bags measure 5 meters (17 feet) tall and about 5 meters (17 feet) in diameter. As Pathfinder is descending to the Martian surface on a parachute, an onboard altimeter inside the lander will monitor its distance from the ground. The computer will inflate these large air bags about 100 meters (330 feet) above the surface of Mars. The mission, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was launched on December 4, 1996.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: GPN-2000-000484
Date: June 14, 1995