Q136350

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

J. Comas Solà

Discovery site

Fabra Obs.

Discovery date

30 October 1929

Named after

Mercedes , (discoverer's sister-in-law)

Alternative designations

1929 UA · 1966 XB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

86.23 yr (31,497 days)

Aphelion

3.2207 AU

Perihelion

1.9111 AU

Semi major axis

2.5659 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.11 yr (1,501 days)

Mean anomaly

171.68 °

Mean motion

0° 14 23.28 / day

Inclination

8.9825°

Longitude of ascending node

209.53°

Argument of perihelion

148.49°

Dimensions

25.23 km (derived) , 25.296 ± 0.249 km , 26.29 ± 6.21 km , 26.349 ± 0.078 km , 26.66 ± 0.28 km , 33.19 ± 6.54 km

Synodic rotation period

6.448 ± 0.002 h , 15.6 h (poor) , 24.64 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox