[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 33, Number 28 (Monday, July 14, 1997)]
[Page 1028]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Landing of the Mars Pathfinder Spacecraft

July 4, 1997

    On this important day, the American people celebrate another 
exciting milestone in our Nation's long heritage of progress, discovery, 
and exploration: the first landing on the surface of Mars in over 20 
years.
    Our return to Mars today marks the beginning of a new era in the 
Nation's space exploration program. The Mars Pathfinder is the first of 
a series of probes we are sending to Mars over the next decade. The 
information we gather on our neighbor planet will help us better 
understand our own world and perhaps provide further clues on the 
origins of our solar system. This mission also underscores our new way 
of doing business at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 
(NASA). We were able to accomplish this mission in one-third the time 
and at a fraction of the cost of the first Viking mission to Mars.
    I congratulate the Mars Pathfinder team at NASA and the Jet 
Propulsion Laboratory for their pioneering vision and spirit in 
accomplishing this remarkable feat. Their success in developing the 
Pathfinder mission is a testament to the ingenuity and ``can do'' 
attitude of the American people.