Q145763

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

25 October 1973

Named after

Joachim Schubart , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1973 UD · 1928 DW, 1933 UX 1 · 1941 SU 1 , 1951 AH 1 · 1952 DS 2 , 1960 EF · 1968 FM, 1972 RO · 1972 TY 4

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda · Schubart

Observation arc

89.27 yr (32,606 days)

Aphelion

4.6512 AU

Perihelion

3.3013 AU

Semi major axis

3.9762 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.93 yr (2,896 days)

Mean anomaly

136.84 °

Mean motion

0° 7 27.48 / day

Inclination

1.6431°

Longitude of ascending node

284.84°

Argument of perihelion

181.75°

Jupiter moid

0.5059 AU

Dimensions

64.66 ± 23.84 km , 67.476 ± 0.504 km , 80.09 ± 2.0 km , 80.11 km (derived) , 80.13 ± 1.25 km

via Wikipedia infobox