Q140639

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

15 October 1941

Named after

Julie Vinter Hansen , (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1941 UK · 1928 DO, 1937 RK · 1939 CL, 1948 QT · 1974 YB, A906 DB · A919 UB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

111.12 yr (40,586 days)

Aphelion

2.6230 AU

Perihelion

2.1227 AU

Semi major axis

2.3729 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.66 yr (1,335 days)

Mean anomaly

251.35 °

Mean motion

0° 16 10.56 / day

Inclination

3.3342°

Longitude of ascending node

59.973°

Argument of perihelion

356.51°

Dimensions

20.76 ± 2.50 km , 21.63 km (derived) , 21.71 ± 1.5 km , 24.29 ± 6.90 km , 24.561 ± 0.080 km , 26.230 ± 0.201 km

Synodic rotation period

13.7 ± 0.1 h , 13.77 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox