Q147037

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

6 February 1973

Named after

Basel (Swiss city)

Alternative designations

1973 CA · 1953 DA, 1953 EY · 1955 WD, 1955 XD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

63.33 yr (23,133 days)

Aphelion

2.4734 AU

Perihelion

1.9765 AU

Semi major axis

2.2250 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.32 yr (1,212 days)

Mean anomaly

191.60 °

Mean motion

0° 17 49.2 / day

Inclination

8.4634°

Longitude of ascending node

321.72°

Time of perihelion

14 November 2025

Argument of perihelion

134.56°

Dimensions

5.710 ± 0.088 km , 6.25 ± 1.51 km , 6.322 ± 0.051 km , 7.82 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox