Q142704

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

G. Kulin

Discovery site

Konkoly Obs.

Discovery date

20 October 1941

Named after

Jenő Gothard, (amateur astronomer)

Alternative designations

1941 UF · 1955 TT

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

61.45 yr (22,446 days)

Aphelion

2.9449 AU

Perihelion

1.6975 AU

Semi major axis

2.3212 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.54 yr (1,292 days)

Mean anomaly

204.83 °

Mean motion

0° 16 43.32 / day

Inclination

8.4727°

Longitude of ascending node

356.61°

Argument of perihelion

335.99°

Dimensions

5.66 km (calculated) , 9.838 ± 0.179 km

Synodic rotation period

4.939 ± 0.003 h , 4.94 h

via Wikipedia infobox