Q146210

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

Harvard College Obs.

Discovery site

Agassiz Stn.

Discovery date

2 February 1975

Named after

Fred L. Whipple , (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

1975 CA · 1932 AD, 1950 LH · 1962 SH, 1970 EC 1 · 1971 KD 1 , 1971 KN · A916 AD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

54.50 yr (19,907 days)

Aphelion

3.2556 AU

Perihelion

2.8656 AU

Semi major axis

3.0606 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.35 yr (1,956 days)

Mean anomaly

18.583 °

Mean motion

0° 11 2.76 / day

Inclination

6.5587°

Longitude of ascending node

263.80°

Argument of perihelion

179.82°

Mean diameter

32.57 ± 0.43 km , 33.83 km (derived) , 33.87 ± 1.3 km , 36.34 ± 0.66 km , 37.481 ± 0.250 km , 40.431 ± 0.471 km

Synodic rotation period

5.78 ± 0.03 h , 6.953 ± 0.003 h

via Wikipedia infobox