Q143310

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

11 September 1942

Named after

Hans Kienle , (German astrophysicist)

Alternative designations

1942 RF · 1951 YY

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

75.76 yr (27,671 d)

Aphelion

3.4829 AU

Perihelion

1.8201 AU

Semi major axis

2.6515 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.32 yr (1,577 d)

Mean anomaly

268.08 °

Mean motion

0° 13 41.88 / day

Inclination

4.5585°

Longitude of ascending node

158.71°

Argument of perihelion

206.14°

Mean diameter

6.909 ± 0.198 km , 7.349 ± 0.144 km

Synodic rotation period

29.25 h

via Wikipedia infobox