Mars Pathfinder speeds toward red planet 20 years ago this hour #OnThisDay #OTD (Dec 4 1996)

1990s, space exploration


Video: 'USA: MARS PATHFINDER SPACECRAFT FINALLY LAUNCHED'

(Wednesday, December 4, 1996, 1:58:07 a.m. EST) — The unmanned American spacecraft Mars Pathfinder lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, this morning and began speeding toward the red planet on a seven-month, 310 million-mile odyssey to deliver the first remotely controlled roving vehicle designed to traverse the landscape of another planet.