SCOTT #3178 MARS PATHFINDER $3.00

It was July 4th, 1997 – were you (like me) camped wide-eyed in front of the TV watching never-before-seen views of the Martian landscape?  I’ll never forget it – the panoramic images were sent to us from an ancient flood plain on the surface of Mars.  (I remember wishing I was there, too.)  All these fantastic images were brought to us courtesy of the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft and robotic rover Sojourner.

The Pathfinder mission used the latest technology to place, for the first time, a lander and free-ranging robotic rover directly onto the surface of the planet.

US #3178 Largest U.S. Postage Stamp Ever Issued 1997 $3 Mars Pathfinder

Remember how NASA scientists used a parachute to slow the spacecraft as it entered the Martian atmosphere?  And all those giant airbags to cushion its landing.