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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
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.