Q144733

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. Boyer

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

9 November 1950

Named after

Pierre Lacroute, (French astronomer)

Alternative designations

1950 VA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

66.35 yr (24,236 days)

Aphelion

3.7003 AU

Perihelion

2.5044 AU

Semi major axis

3.1024 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.46 yr (1,996 days)

Mean anomaly

85.690 °

Mean motion

0° 10 49.44 / day

Inclination

1.6660°

Longitude of ascending node

24.766°

Argument of perihelion

343.20°

Dimensions

16.89 km ( IRAS ) , 18.158 ± 0.108 km

Geometric albedo

0.049 ± 0.007 , 0.0745 ± 0.009 (IRAS)

via Wikipedia infobox