The Mars Pathfinder possessed five separate antennas for cruise, landing, and surface operations during its 1997 mission. The most important of these was this high-gain antenna, providing continuous telecommunications from the lander on the Martian surface to Earth. This high-gain antenna included a mechanically-steered slotted plate with 2 degrees of freedom in pointing. It provided a nominal 125 bits per second (b/s) uplink rate and a telemetry downlink rate of approximately 600 b/s that could be monitored using the NASA Deep Space Network on Earth containing 34-meter and 70-meter dish antennas.

NASA transferred this to the Museum with the Pathfinder engineering model in 1999.

Display Status

This object is on display in Space Science at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Space Science

Object Details

Country of Origin

United States of America

Type

SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Parts & Structural Components

Manufacturer

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Dimensions

Overall: 2in. x 11in. x 1ft 2in. (5.1 x 27.9 x 35.6cm)

Materials

Metal, plastic, and eletronic components

Inventory Number

A19990073002

Credit Line

Transferred from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Data Source

National Air and Space Museum

Restrictions & Rights

Usage conditions apply
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