The Mars Pathfinder mission’s landing site—not the lander itself—was renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station after the 1997 landing.
Mars Pathfinder landed on Mars on July 4, 1997, delivering a stationary lander and the small Sojourner rover. The mission demonstrated an innovative airbag-assisted landing system and returned striking images and scientific data from the Martian surface.
The site was officially renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station on July 5, 1997, one day after landing. The honor recognized Sagan’s major role in popularizing planetary science and his long advocacy for robotic exploration of Mars. He had died in December 1996, several months before Pathfinder reached the planet.
A frequent wording mix-up is to say that Pathfinder itself was renamed. “Mars Pathfinder” remained the mission’s name; the new name referred to its landing site and lander location. Sojourner, the rover, was separately named for abolitionist and women’s-rights activist Sojourner Truth.