Q142317

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

S. Arend

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

19 September 1950

Named after

Bianca Castafiore , (fictional character)

Alternative designations

1950 SL · 1936 PH, 1949 HA · 1959 TH

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

80.55 yr (29,420 days)

Aphelion

3.2165 AU

Perihelion

2.2554 AU

Semi major axis

2.7360 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.53 yr (1,653 days)

Mean anomaly

331.16 °

Mean motion

0° 13 4.08 / day

Inclination

12.476°

Longitude of ascending node

326.66°

Argument of perihelion

346.87°

Dimensions

18.42 ± 0.79 km , 21.159 ± 0.114 , 21.403 ± 0.075 km , 25.44 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

13.931 ± 0.003 h

via Wikipedia infobox