Electrostatic charging of the Mars Pathfinder rover and charging phenomena on the planet Mars

While the Mars Pathfinder rover was being developed, laboratory tests and calculations predicted that it would accumulate a sizable electrostatic charge as it moved over the Martian surface. The result could be a sustained Paschen discharge through the Martian atmosphere. Consequently, a recommendation was implemented to add discharge points as a precaution against charging, and, subsequently, to modify rover on-board electronics. This paper contains a summary of the Pathfinder charging work, then goes on to advance preliminary arguments supporting the general occurrence of electric charging and discharge phenomena on Mars, and to recommend instruments that might be sent to Mars to observe and measure these phenomena