Mars Pathfinder is an American robotic spacecraft that landed a base station with a roving probe on Mars in 1997. It consisted of a lander, renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and a lightweight, 10.6 kg (23 lb) wheeled robotic Mars rover named Sojourner, the first rover to operate outside the Earth–Moon system.
Pathfinder and Sojourner at JPL in October 1996, being 'folded' into its launch position.
Sojourner rover on Mars on sol 22
Wheel size comparison: Sojourner, Mars Exploration Rover, Mars Science Laboratory
Diagram of Mars Pathfinder IMP camera
Rover (space exploration)
A rover is a planetary surface exploration device designed to move over the rough surface of a planet or other planetary mass celestial bodies. Some rovers have been designed as land vehicles to transport members of a human spaceflight crew; others have been partially or fully autonomous robots. Rovers are typically created to land on another planet via a lander-style spacecraft, tasked to collect information about the terrain, and to take crust samples such as dust, soil, rocks, and even liquids. They are essential tools in space exploration.
Three different Mars rover designs: Sojourner, MER and Curiosity
Curiosity's wheels on Mars, 2017
Comparison of distances driven by various wheeled vehicles on the surface of the Moon and Mars
The Lunokhod 1 Lunar Rover