Q143114

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

C. J. van Houten , I. van Houten-G. , T. Gehrels

Discovery site

Palomar Obs.

Discovery date

24 September 1960

Named after

Bernhard Schmidt , (German optician)

Alternative designations

4109 P-L · 1931 BJ, 1939 CN · 1943 EA, 1947 GD · 1951 JU, 1952 QD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

87.76 yr (32,056 d)

Aphelion

2.8066 AU

Perihelion

2.1405 AU

Semi major axis

2.4736 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.89 yr (1,421 d)

Mean anomaly

202.34 °

Mean motion

0° 15 11.88 / day

Inclination

6.3568°

Longitude of ascending node

189.64°

Argument of perihelion

359.51°

Mean diameter

17.00–17.01 km , 17.28 ± 1.4 km , 18.230 ± 6.626 km , 19.062 ± 0.133 km , 19.338 ± 0.105 km , 20.69 ± 0.31 km , 20.78 ± 0.43 km

Synodic rotation period

17.45 h

via Wikipedia infobox