Q147273

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. Kowal

Discovery site

Palomar Obs.

Discovery date

24 April 1977

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b æ k ə s / BAK -əs

Named after

Bacchus (Dionysus in Greek) , (Roman god)

Alternative designations

1977 HB

Minor planet category

NEO · Apollo , Venus-crosser

Adjectives

Bacchian / ˈ b æ k i ə n /

Symbol

(astrological)

Observation arc

39.10 yr (14,282 days)

Aphelion

1.4545 AU

Perihelion

0.7013 AU

Semi major axis

1.0779 AU

Orbital period sidereal

0.9897 yr (361.487925 days)

Mean anomaly

113.13 °

Mean motion

0° 52 50.52 / day

Inclination

1.5205167°

Longitude of ascending node

33.103°

via Wikipedia infobox