Q110704

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

M. F. Wolf , A. Schwassmann

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

31 October 1899

Pronunciation

/ h æ m ˈ b ɜːr ɡ ə /

Named after

Hamburg , (German city)

Alternative designations

1899 EU · 1947 OA, 1948 TO · A901 EA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

117.91 yr (43,066 days)

Aphelion

2.9931 AU

Perihelion

2.1097 AU

Semi major axis

2.5514 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.08 yr (1,489 days)

Mean anomaly

228.86 °

Mean motion

0° 14 30.48 / day

Inclination

3.0847°

Longitude of ascending node

85.923°

Argument of perihelion

47.281°

Dimensions

55.09 ± 14.25 km , 63.61 ± 0.75 km , 66.76 ± 4.82 km , 77.90 ± 22.29 km , 80.83 ± 17.91 km , 85.59 ± 1.9 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

85.59

Orbital period

1487.536896163977

via Wikidata · CC0