path·find·er / ˈpa[unvoicedth]ˌfīndər/ • n. a person who goes ahead and discovers or shows others a path or way. ∎  an aircraft or its pilot sent ahead to locate and mark the target area for bombing. ∎  [usu. as adj.] an experimental plan or forecast: a pathfinder prospectus.

Path·find·er / ˈpa[unvoicedth]ˌfīndər/ (in full Mars Pathfinder) an unmanned American spacecraft that landed on Mars in 1997, deploying a small robotic rover (Sojourner) to explore the surface and examine the rocks.

Pathfinder in the novels of James Fenimore Cooper, one of the names given to Natty Bumppo.

Pathfinder was also the name of an unmanned American spacecraft which landed on Mars in 1997, deploying a small robotic rover (Sojourner) to explore the surface and examine the rocks.