The Soujourner rover operated with the Pathfinder lander, but when pathfinder's mission was declared to be completed, the rover's was too. Why?
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The only way for the Soujourner rover to transmit data to Earth or receive commands from Earth was through the Pathfinder lander. If Pathfinder died, Sojourner was also essentially dead.
answered Jun 15, 2022 at 20:52
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$\begingroup$ So, in theory, could a new device be sent to Mars (either an orbiter or a lander) to the last known general location of Sojourner, to take the place of the defunct Pathfinder as a transmitting relay? (Not asking if it'd be worth the effort, just if it'd be possible...) $\endgroup$ Jun 16, 2022 at 14:25
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6$\begingroup$ @DarrelHoffman Not likely. The rover is almost certainly dead by now -- and almost certainly nearly useless as well. That was 25 years ago, meaning many dust storms rained dust on it. Moreover, it was very light on capability. $\endgroup$ Jun 16, 2022 at 15:28
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4$\begingroup$ @DavidHammen Well, we could send Mark Watney to fix it (and put it to good use) :-) $\endgroup$– TooTeaJun 17, 2022 at 7:00
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$\begingroup$ @TooTea, yup, just give him enough potatoes and he'll get the job done. $\endgroup$ Jun 25, 2022 at 0:56
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