NASA's Mars Pathfinder mission arrived on Mars in 1977, and began transmitting images from the surface of the red planet. The rover, named Sojourner, was the first vehicle to successfully land on Mars, accompanied by a landing craft now known as the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, according to "space" website.

Innovative Landing on Mars

The mission used an innovative landing system to touch down on the surface. NASA covered the vehicle with airbags to cushion the impact after a parachute slowed its fall. The Pathfinder rover landed in an area of Mars called Ares Vallis, an ancient flood plain that NASA chose because it was relatively safe but still contained many rocks to be studied.

The landing craft captured images of the Martian sky and collected weather data, while the Sojourner rover examined the rocks and soil on Mars using its three cameras and Alpha Proton X-ray Spectrometer, which allowed it to analyze the chemical composition of samples from the surface.

It is worth noting that in 2015, Pathfinder appeared in the successful science fiction film "The Martian," when it was recovered by stranded astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon), who used it to restore communications with Earth.