Q144605

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

L. Kohoutek

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

26 October 1971

Named after

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (Czechoslovak President)

Alternative designations

1971 UO 1 · 1936 FW, 1955 DE · 1959 VJ, 1968 FG · 1970 QN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

81.02 yr (29,591 days)

Aphelion

3.7629 AU

Perihelion

3.0796 AU

Semi major axis

3.4213 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.33 yr (2,311 days)

Mean anomaly

313.50 °

Mean motion

0° 9 20.52 / day

Inclination

2.6203°

Longitude of ascending node

45.323°

Argument of perihelion

119.95°

Dimensions

38.642 ± 0.544 km , 40.240 ± 0.504 , 43.77 ± 0.83 km , 46.04 km (derived) , 46.07 ± 2.5 km

Synodic rotation period

7.53 ± 0.04 h , 7.543 01 ± 0.000 01 h

via Wikipedia infobox