Q143282

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

17 March 1939

Named after

Porvoo (Finnish city)

Alternative designations

1939 FC · 1964 BB, 1968 FK

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

77.87 yr (28,442 days)

Aphelion

2.6478 AU

Perihelion

2.0551 AU

Semi major axis

2.3514 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.61 yr (1,317 days)

Mean anomaly

263.06 °

Mean motion

0° 16 23.88 / day

Inclination

3.9765°

Longitude of ascending node

39.423°

Argument of perihelion

149.40°

Dimensions

6.32 km (calculated) , 10.03 ± 2.85 km , 12.81 ± 0.45 km

Synodic rotation period

4.89 h

via Wikipedia infobox