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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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

15 October 1891

Pronunciation

/ f l ɒr ə n ˈ t aɪ n ə /

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Koronis )

Observation arc

118.15 yr (43153 d)

Aphelion

3.01879 AU (451.605 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7543 AU (412.04 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.88657 AU (431.825 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.90 yr (1,791.3 d)

Mean anomaly

120.99 °

Mean motion

0° 12 3.492 / day

Inclination

2.5876°

Longitude of ascending node

40.224°

Argument of perihelion

37.310°

Dimensions

27.23 ± 1.5 km

Synodic rotation period

2.871 h (0.1196 d )

Geometric albedo

0.2296 ± 0.028

via Wikipedia infobox