Q146073

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

21 September 1938

Named after

Finnish village, ( Battle of Summa )

Alternative designations

1938 SO · 1969 PA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

78.38 yr (28,628 days)

Aphelion

2.9797 AU

Perihelion

1.9733 AU

Semi major axis

2.4765 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.90 yr (1,423 days)

Mean anomaly

98.003 °

Mean motion

0° 15 10.44 / day

Inclination

4.5756°

Longitude of ascending node

180.42°

Argument of perihelion

157.80°

Dimensions

8.34 km (derived) , 9.333 ± 0.170 km

Synodic rotation period

6.8549 ± 0.0006 h , 6.855 ± 0.001 h , 9.66 h (dated)

via Wikipedia infobox