Airbags, Lander, Mars, Pathfinder
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Object Details
- Manufacturer
- ILC Dover, Inc.
- Summary
- This is a prototype of the airbag for the Mars Pathfinder lander. Mars Pathfinder was the first mission intended to gather scientific data on the surface of the red planet since the Viking mission in 1976. An unusual, innovative method was used to achieve a soft landing of the spacecraft. On reaching Mars on July 4, 1997, Pathfinder entered the planet's thin atmosphere, was slowed by a parachute and then rockets, and then landed by bouncing on inflated airbags. The artifact consists of an engineering prototype for those airbags. The mission airbags as well as the prototypes were designed and built by JPL for NASA's office of Space Science. The artifact was transferred to NASM by NASA in 1999.
- Credit Line
- Transferred from National Aeronautics and Space Administration and Jet Propulsion Laboratory
- Inventory Number
- A19990073007
- Restrictions & Rights
- Usage conditions apply
- Type
- SPACECRAFT-Uncrewed-Parts & Structural Components
- Materials
- Synthetic Fabric (Vectran Polyester)
- Iron Alloy
- Copper Alloy
- Coated Fabric
- Unknown Coating
- Nylon
- Silicone Adhesive
- Adhesive Tape
- Plastic
- Non-Magnetic White Metal Alloy Foil
- Non-Magnetic White Metal Alloy
- Ink
- Dimensions
- 3-D (Approximate, single airbag): 266.7 × 358.1 × 30.5cm (105 in. × 11 ft. 9 in. × 12 in.)
- Overall (assembled four airbags): 182 1/4 x 207 5/16in. (462.9 x 526.6cm)
- Storage (Rehoused in a PSC): 123.2 × 115.6 × 91.4cm, 102.1kg (48 1/2 × 45 1/2 × 36 in., 225lb.)
- Country of Origin
- United States of America
- See more items in
- National Air and Space Museum Collection
- National Air and Space Museum
- Record ID
- nasm_A19990073007
- Metadata Usage (text)
- Not determined
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/nv96870dc4b-c825-42ab-98aa-ea66d7c669e9
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