Q122762

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

Discovery date

30 September 1921

Pronunciation

English: / ˈ ɔː s ə / AW -sə , Norwegian: [ ˈôːsə ]

Alternative designations

A921 SB; 1944 RC;, 1967 RA1; 1970 PC

Observation arc

94.55 yr (34533 days)

Aphelion

2.6300 AU (393.44 Gm )

Perihelion

1.7863 AU (267.23 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.2081 AU (330.33 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.28 yr (1198.5 d )

Mean anomaly

327.686 °

Mean motion

0° 18 1.332 / day

Inclination

5.4506°

Longitude of ascending node

163.155°

Argument of perihelion

193.982°

Earth moid

0.781473 AU (116.9067 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.80382 AU (419.446 Gm)

Mean diameter

7.25 ± 0.35 km

via Wikipedia infobox