Q143006

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. Soulié

Discovery site

Bordeaux Obs.

Discovery date

6 September 1967

Named after

Floirac, Gironde , (location of observatory)

Alternative designations

1967 RA · 1927 RB, 1927 SN · 1934 XC, 1937 RP · 1952 DO 1 , 1957 TC · 1957 US, 1962 CN · A914 WD

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

89.65 yr (32,745 days)

Aphelion

2.6074 AU

Perihelion

1.8500 AU

Semi major axis

2.2287 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.33 yr (1,215 days)

Mean anomaly

331.80 °

Inclination

4.5502°

Longitude of ascending node

159.80°

Argument of perihelion

248.92°

Dimensions

8.617 ± 0.075 , 8.701 ± 0.119 km , 8.729 km , 8.73 km (taken) , 9.50 ± 0.30 km , 10.08 ± 0.34 km

Synodic rotation period

6.775 ± 0.001 h , 12.28 ± 0.06 h

Geometric albedo

0.252 ± 0.020 , 0.258 ± 0.060 , 0.2711 , 0.2994 ± 0.0420 , 0.302 ± 0.021

via Wikipedia infobox