Q140190

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

L. Oterma

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

23 March 1939

Named after

Lappeenranta , (Finnish city)

Alternative designations

1939 FM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

78.15 yr (28,544 days)

Aphelion

2.7784 AU

Perihelion

2.0207 AU

Semi major axis

2.3995 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.72 yr (1,358 days)

Mean anomaly

67.942 °

Mean motion

0° 15 54.72 / day

Inclination

11.049°

Longitude of ascending node

94.866°

Argument of perihelion

51.074°

Dimensions

11.336 ± 0.149 km , 11.931 ± 0.069 km , 12.42 ± 0.48 km , 12.65 km (derived) , 12.70 ± 1.2 km , 13.35 ± 2.34 km

Synodic rotation period

8 h (dated) , 10.44 h , 15.16 ± 0.01 h , 15.190 ± 0.009 h

via Wikipedia infobox