Q140452

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

18 October 1939

Named after

Gunnar Malmquist , (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1939 UG · 1929 TG, 1932 OB · 1972 TK, A909 TC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

87.47 yr (31,948 days)

Aphelion

2.6694 AU

Perihelion

1.7846 AU

Semi major axis

2.2270 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.32 yr (1,214 days)

Mean anomaly

203.99 °

Mean motion

0° 17 47.76 / day

Inclination

5.1939°

Longitude of ascending node

16.133°

Argument of perihelion

304.49°

Dimensions

9.55 ± 0.49 km , 10.040 ± 0.134 km , 10.338 ± 0.071 km , 10.80 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

14.044 ± 0.0244 h , 14.0591 h , 14.077 ± 0.004 h

via Wikipedia infobox