Q142734

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

29 January 1935

Named after

(grand-niece of astronomer) , Georges Roland

Alternative designations

1935 BB · 1938 SF 1 , 1943 QE · 1949 WF, 1951 CX 1 · 1952 HG 1 , 1956 AH · 1956 AW, 1956 DC · 1959 TR, 1959 UH · A909 DJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

107.82 yr (39,380 days)

Aphelion

3.3596 AU

Perihelion

2.6666 AU

Semi major axis

3.0131 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,910 days)

Mean anomaly

5.6639 °

Mean motion

0° 11 18.24 / day

Inclination

11.095°

Longitude of ascending node

134.78°

Argument of perihelion

251.25°

Dimensions

22.929 ± 0.364 km

Geometric albedo

0.133 ± 0.011

via Wikipedia infobox