小行星1735

Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars

2026-07-04

On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

via NASA APOD

Key facts

Discovered by

P. F. Shajn

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

10 September 1948

Named after

Institute for Theoretical Astronomy (USSR)

Alternative designations

1948 RJ 1 · 1929 DA, 1931 RF 1 · 1934 BC, 1935 GC · 1937 TN, 1948 TB 1 · 1948 TK, 1951 DL · 1951 EY, 1952 HN 2 · 1952 JB, A907 GC