Get ready for the trip of a lifetime. The adventure begins at Cape Canaveral in the final months of 1996. Then eight months later, on July 4, 1997, an alien object will streak through Mars' dark sky, glowing bright as its heat shield encounters the planet's thin atmosphere. Decelerating with a parachute and small retro-rockets, the spacecraft will slow, and then a new type of airbag will deploy. It'll touch down, bounce as high as a ten story building, and tumble over rocks and boulders. After this bumpy landing, the airbags deflate, 3 petals unfold, and Mars Pathfinder will awaken on the Red Planet—the National Science Foundation