Q142366

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

P. Wild

Discovery site

Zimmerwald Obs.

Discovery date

19 September 1965

Pronunciation

/ ɡ l ə ˈ r oʊ n ə /

Named after

Glarus ( Swiss canton )

Alternative designations

1965 SC · 1926 UA, 1931 RB 1 · 1942 PD, 1945 EA · 1948 QN, 1948 RD 1 · 1954 TB, 1954 UB 2 · 1959 PG, 1960 XD · 1965 UX, A909 UA · A915 XC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Themis

Observation arc

107.45 yr (39,245 days)

Aphelion

3.7148 AU

Perihelion

2.6004 AU

Semi major axis

3.1576 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.61 yr (2,049 days)

Mean anomaly

62.841 °

Mean motion

0° 10 32.52 / day

Inclination

2.6367°

Longitude of ascending node

93.570°

Argument of perihelion

316.57°

Dimensions

31.52 ± 0.50 km , 33.93 ± 4.9 km ( IRAS :6) , 36.75 ± 0.93 km , 37.850 ± 0.194 , 42.007 ± 0.515 km

via Wikipedia infobox