Q145891

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

G. Soulié

Discovery site

Bordeaux Obs.

Discovery date

19 October 1968

Named after

Aiguillon (French town)

Alternative designations

1968 UA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

62.93 yr (22,985 days)

Aphelion

3.6118 AU

Perihelion

2.7755 AU

Semi major axis

3.1936 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.71 yr (2,085 days)

Mean anomaly

145.64 °

Inclination

9.1961°

Longitude of ascending node

195.12°

Argument of perihelion

245.30°

Dimensions

19.536 ± 0.090 km , 20 ± 8 km (generic)

Geometric albedo

0.062 ± 0.012

via Wikipedia infobox