Q132944

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

14 January 1927

Pronunciation

/ m ɪ ˈ m oʊ z ə , - s ə /

Named after

Mimosa ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1927 AD · 1961 AM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Koronis · Karin

Observation arc

90.80 yr (33,165 days)

Aphelion

3.0127 AU

Perihelion

2.7332 AU

Semi major axis

2.8729 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.87 yr (1,779 days)

Mean anomaly

253.25 °

Mean motion

0° 12 8.64 / day

Inclination

1.1764°

Longitude of ascending node

329.37°

Argument of perihelion

106.35°

Dimensions

19.01 ± 1.20 km , 20.67 km (derived) , 20.69 ± 2.7 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.7

Orbital period

1779.217165334059

via Wikidata · CC0