312 Pierretta

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery site

Nice Observatory

Discovery date

28 August 1891

Pronunciation

/ p i ə ˈ r ɛ t ə /

Alternative designations

A891 QA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

128.66 yr (46994 d)

Aphelion

3.227 AU (482.8 Gm )

Perihelion

2.338 AU (349.8 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.782 AU (416.2 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.64 yr (1695.1 d )

Mean anomaly

339.6932 °

Mean motion

0° 12 44.554 / day

Inclination

9.029344°

Longitude of ascending node

6.25477°

Argument of perihelion

262.764°

Dimensions

49.96 ± 1.5 km

Synodic rotation period

10.282 h (0.4284 d )

via Wikipedia infobox