Q121603

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

22 April 1925

Pronunciation

German: [ beːˈʔaːtə ]

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1925 HB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

92.20 yr (33,677 days)

Aphelion

3.2214 AU

Perihelion

2.9717 AU

Semi major axis

3.0966 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.45 yr (1,990 days)

Mean anomaly

255.00 °

Mean motion

0° 10 51.24 / day

Inclination

8.9257°

Longitude of ascending node

159.31°

Argument of perihelion

154.71°

Dimensions

31.60 ± 1.3 km , 31.85 km (derived) , 31.986 ± 0.075 km , 33.97 ± 0.43 km , 34.08 ± 1.11 km , 40.952 ± 0.967 km

via Wikipedia infobox