Q145650

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

T. Smirnova

Discovery site

Crimean Astrophysical Obs.

Discovery date

14 May 1972

Named after

Victor Ambartsumian , (theoretical astrophysicist)

Alternative designations

1972 JZ · 1932 FC, 1952 HO 3 · 1959 QD, 1962 JX · 1969 PF, 1976 SS 5

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

84.99 yr (31,043 days)

Aphelion

2.5842 AU

Perihelion

1.8624 AU

Semi major axis

2.2233 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.32 yr (1,211 days)

Mean anomaly

224.81 °

Mean motion

0° 17 50.28 / day

Inclination

2.6158°

Longitude of ascending node

201.37°

Argument of perihelion

61.590°

Dimensions

8.008 ± 0.417 km , 12 ± 5 km (generic)

Geometric albedo

0.229 ± 0.037

via Wikipedia infobox