Sojourner, the Little Rover that Could

Sojourner wasn't advanced like Curiosity, but this little roving microwave paved the way for all modern rovers. As part of its 1997 Pathfinder mission, a low-cost Discovery class mission to land on Mars, NASA landed the Sojourner rover on the red planet. It wasn't a sophisticated rover by today's standards, but it was the first rover to travel around the planet with some autonomy, taking up close images and measurements of rocks tens of feet from the lander. The lessons learned from its mission helped NASA develop the rovers that came after it.
For more on Pathfinder and Sojourner, check out NASA's mission website: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/index0.html

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