Q142830

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

3 October 1953

Named after

Herman Wells , ( Indiana University )

Alternative designations

1953 TD 3 · 1944 DA, 1958 QE · A905 CG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

112.13 yr (40,957 days)

Aphelion

3.2969 AU

Perihelion

3.0049 AU

Semi major axis

3.1509 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.59 yr (2,043 days)

Mean anomaly

101.64 °

Inclination

16.107°

Longitude of ascending node

317.29°

Argument of perihelion

137.52°

Dimensions

43.576 ± 0.166 km

Geometric albedo

0.045 ± 0.005

via Wikipedia infobox