Q119261

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

G. van Biesbroeck

Discovery site

Yerkes Obs.

Discovery date

11 November 1923

Pronunciation

/ ɛ s k j ʊ ˈ l eɪ p i ə /

Named after

Aesculāpius , (Greek/Roman deity)

Alternative designations

A923 YO 11 · 1942 DH, 1977 LP 1 · A899 PE, A908 AE

Minor planet category

main-belt · Themis

Observation arc

108.41 yr (39,595 days)

Aphelion

3.5625 AU

Perihelion

2.7408 AU

Semi major axis

3.1517 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.60 yr (2,044 days)

Mean anomaly

121.70 °

Mean motion

0° 10 34.32 / day

Inclination

1.2537°

Longitude of ascending node

29.346°

Argument of perihelion

132.13°

Dimensions

31.225 ± 0.164 km , 32.05 km (derived) , 32.20 ± 1.4 km , 32.38 ± 8.42 km , 34.464 ± 0.335 km , 35.25 ± 13.39 km , 38.55 ± 0.82 km

via Wikipedia infobox