Q141491

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. Boyer

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

20 March 1952

Named after

Alfred Schmitt (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1952 FB · 1929 CC 1 , 1935 ER · 1941 HH, 1947 LS · 1952 DK 2 , 1975 AJ · A906 DC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

111.18 yr (40,607 days)

Aphelion

3.6085 AU

Perihelion

2.7913 AU

Semi major axis

3.1999 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.72 yr (2,091 days)

Mean anomaly

167.85 °

Mean motion

0° 10 19.92 / day

Inclination

13.265°

Longitude of ascending node

154.96°

Argument of perihelion

24.216°

Dimensions

21.12 ± 2.86 km , 21.283 ± 0.267 km , 36.78 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

7.0602 ± 0.0033 h , 7.0613 ± 0.0007 h , 7.062 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox