QUESTION:
Will the MGS give more information than the Pathfinder?

ANSWER from Donna Shirley on June 16, 1997:
Well, it depends on how you count.  MGS will definitely generate more data
and with a wider variety of instruments over a longer period of time.  So
MGS will deliver far more information about the overall state of Mars than
Pathfinder.

However, since Pathfinder can actually touch Mars, it will be able to get
information on the geology and mineralogy of the surface (at one place) that
MGS can't get.  The rover will leave tracks that will tell us about the soil
characteristics and will do experiments that MGS can't (like find out how
much dust falls on the solar arrays).

MGS and Pathfinder will also help each other.  MGS will take a picture of
the Pathfinder landing site on July 2 to look for how the weather is for
landing.  Pathfinder will get information as it plunges through the
atmosphere which will help MGS during its aerobraking.

Donna Shirley
Manager, Mars Exploration Program