Q143578

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

P. Wild

Discovery site

Zimmerwald Obs.

Discovery date

13 May 1969

Named after

Zimmerwald , (village; observatory)

Alternative designations

1969 JA · 1952 HB 2 , 1952 HD · 1953 TE 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eunomia

Observation arc

67.20 yr (24,545 days)

Aphelion

3.0866 AU

Perihelion

2.1182 AU

Semi major axis

2.6024 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.20 yr (1,533 days)

Mean anomaly

148.54 °

Mean motion

0° 14 5.28 / day

Inclination

12.555°

Longitude of ascending node

195.94°

Argument of perihelion

84.725°

Dimensions

10.17 ± 0.69 km , 10.232 ± 0.088 km , 10.70 ± 2.19 km , 11.03 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

122 ± 5 h

via Wikipedia infobox