Q146020

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. J. van Houten , I. van Houten G. , T. Gehrels

Discovery site

Palomar Obs.

Discovery date

24 September 1960

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ s aɪ r ɪ s /

Named after

Osiris (Egyptian mythology)

Alternative designations

4011 P-L · 1964 TO 2 , 1966 FR · 1974 KN, 1974 KP · 1974 LE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Sulamitis

Observation arc

62.70 yr (22,900 days)

Aphelion

2.5900 AU

Perihelion

2.2813 AU

Semi major axis

2.4356 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.80 yr (1,388 days)

Mean anomaly

269.38 °

Mean motion

0° 15 33.48 / day

Inclination

4.9580°

Longitude of ascending node

353.07°

Argument of perihelion

106.04°

Dimensions

13.1 km, 13.461 ± 0.206

via Wikipedia infobox