Q147194

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

Named after

Gawain ( Arthurian legend )

Alternative designations

4097 P-L · 1973 FG 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

62.52 yr (22,834 days)

Aphelion

3.2591 AU

Perihelion

2.6716 AU

Semi major axis

2.9653 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.11 yr (1,865 days)

Mean anomaly

315.28 °

Mean motion

0° 11 34.8 / day

Inclination

3.7886°

Longitude of ascending node

293.24°

Argument of perihelion

183.97°

Dimensions

17.28 ± 4.94 km , 18.042 ± 0.245 km , 19.95 km (derived) , 20.05 ± 2.1 km , 20.77 ± 0.63 km

Synodic rotation period

11.1098 ± 0.0004 h , 11.5 ± 0.1 h , 11.581 ± 0.0194 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

18.042

Orbital period

1865.125177403495

via Wikidata · CC0