Editing Mars Pathfinder (section)

==End of mission==<!-- This section is linked from [[Carl Sagan]] -->
[[File:MPT Hardware on the Surface MRO picture.jpg|thumb|left|''Mars Pathfinder'' seen from space by the [[Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter|MRO]] [[HiRISE]]]]
Although the mission was planned to last from a week to a month, the rover operated successfully for almost three months. Communication failed after October 7,<ref name=batteryfailure/> with a final data transmission received from Pathfinder at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, but the mission was terminated on March 10, 1998. During the extended operation a high-resolution stereo panorama of the surrounding terrain was being made, and the Sojourner rover was to visit a distant ridge, but the panorama was only about one-third completed and the ridge visit had not begun when communication failed.<ref name=batteryfailure/>

The on-board battery—designed to operate for one month—may have failed after repeated charging and discharging. The battery was used to heat the probe's electronics to slightly above the expected nighttime temperatures on Mars. With the failure of the battery, colder-than-normal temperatures may have caused vital parts to break, leading to loss of communications.<ref name=batteryfailure>{{cite web |url=http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/1997/10/27-04.html |title=Mars Pathfinder Nearing Its End |work=sciencemag.org |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621151651/http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/1997/10/27-04.html |archive-date=June 21, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=nasafacts>{{Cite web |url=http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/mpf.pdf |title=NASA facts - Mars Pathfinder |website=[[Jet Propulsion Laboratory]] |access-date=September 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513063945/http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/fact_sheets/mpf.pdf |archive-date=May 13, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref>  The mission had exceeded its goals in the first month.

''[[Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter]]'' spotted the ''Pathfinder'' lander in January 2007 (see photo).<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10945 |title=Mars probe may have spotted lost rover |date=January 12, 2007 |first=Maggie |last=McKee |work=[[New Scientist]] |access-date=September 4, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424095729/http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10945 |archive-date=April 24, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia09105.html |title=Mars Pathfinder Landing Site and Surroundings |work=NASA |access-date=June 10, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520190938/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia09105.html |archive-date=May 20, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref>