Q141878

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

19 January 1939

Named after

Svein Rosseland , ( astrophysicist )

Alternative designations

1939 BG · 1937 QH, 1948 QR · 1955 NB, 1977 FK · 1980 ME

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

79.69 yr (29,105 days)

Aphelion

2.6435 AU

Perihelion

2.0771 AU

Semi major axis

2.3603 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.63 yr (1,324 days)

Mean anomaly

320.86 °

Mean motion

0° 16 18.48 / day

Inclination

8.3787°

Longitude of ascending node

119.98°

Argument of perihelion

279.82°

Dimensions

11.48 ± 3.28 km , 11.50 ± 2.88 km , 12.130 ± 0.007 km , 12.801 ± 0.231 km , 12.85 km (calculated) , 13.49 ± 0.27 km

Synodic rotation period

68.9 h , 69.2 h

via Wikipedia infobox