Q147467

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

26 April 1941

Named after

Sampo , ( Finnish mythology )

Alternative designations

1941 HO · 1931 MG, 1938 UF 1 · 1951 GA 1 , 1952 LB · 1956 EP, 1971 BH 1 · 1978 NB, A924 BB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

93.06 yr (33,989 days)

Aphelion

3.1985 AU

Perihelion

2.8300 AU

Semi major axis

3.0143 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,911 days)

Mean anomaly

359.61 °

Mean motion

0° 11 17.88 / day

Inclination

11.378°

Longitude of ascending node

114.53°

Argument of perihelion

318.84°

Dimensions

23.024 ± 0.474 km , 23.493 ± 0.240 km , 30.25 km (derived) , 30.48 ± 1.3 km , 35.47 ± 0.45 km

Synodic rotation period

71.34 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox