Q140008

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

22 September 1938

Named after

Turku (Finnish city)

Alternative designations

1938 SA 1 · 1928 QN, 1928 RE · 1950 EC, 1954 MH · 1957 HB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora · background

Observation arc

88.02 yr (32,148 days)

Aphelion

2.5631 AU

Perihelion

1.8490 AU

Semi major axis

2.2060 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.28 yr (1,197 days)

Mean anomaly

90.547 °

Mean motion

0° 18 2.88 / day

Inclination

2.5005°

Longitude of ascending node

294.38°

Argument of perihelion

0.9272°

Dimensions

7.47 ± 0.31 km , 7.758 ± 0.072 km , 7.973 ± 0.018 km , 8.19 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

6.47 ± 0.01 h , 6.473 75 ± 0.000 01 h

via Wikipedia infobox