Q144913

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

C. A. Wirtanen

Discovery site

Lick Obs.

Discovery date

7 March 1948

Pronunciation

/ æ n ˈ t ɪ n oʊ ə s /

Named after

Antinous (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1948 EA

Minor planet category

Apollo NEO

Observation arc

68.91 yr (25,168 days)

Earliest precovery date

5 March 1948

Aphelion

3.6293 AU

Perihelion

0.8895 AU

Semi major axis

2.2594 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.40 yr (1,240 days)

Mean anomaly

139.55 °

Mean motion

0° 17 24.72 / day

Inclination

18.398°

Longitude of ascending node

346.48°

Argument of perihelion

268.00°

via Wikipedia infobox