Q136700

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

M. F. Wolf , M. Ferrero

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

30 August 1930

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1930 QH · 1937 VH, 1955 SK 1 · 1955 SR 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

86.77 yr (31,691 days)

Aphelion

2.6775 AU

Perihelion

1.9599 AU

Semi major axis

2.3187 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.53 yr (1,290 days)

Mean anomaly

155.85 °

Mean motion

0° 16 45.12 / day

Inclination

4.0522°

Longitude of ascending node

255.08°

Argument of perihelion

177.29°

Dimensions

7.893 ± 0.185 km

Geometric albedo

0.179 ± 0.024

via Wikipedia infobox