Q11546

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

5 January 1924

Pronunciation

/ ˌ l eɪ . oʊ d ə ˈ m aɪ ə /

Named after

Λαοδάμεια Lāodamīa , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1924 PK · 1939 FG, 1958 OC

Minor planet category

Mars crosser

Observation arc

93.50 yr (34,150 days)

Aphelion

3.2315 AU

Perihelion

1.5535 AU

Semi major axis

2.3925 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.70 yr (1,352 days)

Mean anomaly

88.023 °

Mean motion

0° 15 58.68 / day

Inclination

5.4939°

Longitude of ascending node

132.53°

Argument of perihelion

353.34°

Dimensions

7.39 km (derived) , 7.56 ± 0.76 km

via Wikipedia infobox