Q11534

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

S. Belyavskyj

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

12 September 1923

Pronunciation

/ l ə ˈ ɡ r ɒ n dʒ i ə /

Named after

Joseph-Louis Lagrange , (Italian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1923 OU

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

93.73 yr (34,235 days)

Aphelion

4.2641 AU

Perihelion

2.0210 AU

Semi major axis

3.1425 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.57 yr (2,035 days)

Mean anomaly

283.17 °

Mean motion

0° 10 36.84 / day

Inclination

10.917°

Longitude of ascending node

294.59°

Argument of perihelion

86.231°

Dimensions

29.53 km (derived) , 29.56 ± 2.3 km , 30.36 ± 6.84 km , 32.24 ± 1.16 km , 35.310 ± 0.345 km

via Wikipedia infobox