Q137542

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

18 August 1933

Named after

Jules Baillaud , (French astronomer)

Alternative designations

1933 QB · 1931 HE, 1946 SF · 1959 UK, 1961 AN · A912 GB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

84.12 yr (30,725 days)

Aphelion

3.5842 AU

Perihelion

3.2431 AU

Semi major axis

3.4136 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.31 yr (2,304 days)

Mean anomaly

61.729 °

Mean motion

0° 9 22.68 / day

Inclination

6.4598°

Longitude of ascending node

293.06°

Argument of perihelion

98.986°

Dimensions

50.83 ± 2.0 km , 53.97 ± 0.72 km

Synodic rotation period

12.6 h

via Wikipedia infobox