Q140610

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 Observatory

Discovery date

12 February 1939

Named after

Estonia , ( Baltic country )

Alternative designations

1939 CK · 1930 FE, 1930 FV · 1950 RG 1 , 1950 SR · 1959 RF 1 , A916 GE · A923 VE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

93.57 yr (34,176 days)

Aphelion

2.9610 AU

Perihelion

2.5761 AU

Semi major axis

2.7685 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.61 yr (1,683 days)

Mean anomaly

346.22 °

Mean motion

0° 12 50.4 / day

Inclination

4.8750°

Longitude of ascending node

1.4553°

Argument of perihelion

192.84°

Dimensions

19.53 ± 0.40 km , 20.15 km (derived) , 20.56 ± 6.71 km , 22.000 ± 0.342 km , 23.89 ± 1.35 km , 24.542 ± 0.096 km

Synodic rotation period

10.1 ± 1.0 h

via Wikipedia infobox