Happy anniversary to the successful Fourth of July landing of Mars Pathfinder.

In 1997, Pathfinder’s remarkable touchdown set the stage for the family of landers that followed and marked the beginning of the Mars rover missions, starting with Sojourner.

Tiny Sojourner, barely larger than a microwave oven, rolled its six wheels to the Martian surface and gave us a startling view of the ancient plain. Water once flooded the rusty landscape.

Almost 30 years later, NASA’s search for water will investigate closer to home.

In preparation for the crewed Artemis missions, the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, or VIPER, is aiming to land at the Lunar South Pole in search of water ice. Once the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter determined water ice was lurking in subsurface that permanently shadows regions of the lunar poles, the race to explore was on.

Pittsburgh is part of the race. NASA changed course from traditionally building Mars missions solo, to using commercial companies for ferrying its equipment to lunar destinations. North Side-based Astrobotic is building the largest moon lander since the Apollo mission.

Its lander, Griffin, will carry the golf-cart sized mobile robot to the moon on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. After landing near Noble Crater, dual ramps on Griffin will deploy, giving VIPER access to the surface.

VIPER is poised to encounter far greater extremes than Pathfinder’s Martian journey.

— Julie Silverman / Carnegie Science Center

First Published: July 2, 2024, 9:30 a.m.