Q147781

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

R. M. West

Discovery site

La Silla Obs.

Discovery date

24 October 1976

Pronunciation

/ ɪ ˈ p iː ɒ s , - ə s /

Named after

Epeius , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1976 UW

Minor planet category

Jupiter trojan , Greek · background

Observation arc

40.69 yr (14,862 d)

Aphelion

5.5118 AU

Perihelion

4.9188 AU

Semi major axis

5.2153 AU

Orbital period sidereal

11.91 yr (4,350 d)

Mean anomaly

243.53 °

Mean motion

0° 4 58.08 / day

Inclination

9.1481°

Longitude of ascending node

176.56°

Argument of perihelion

231.58°

Jupiter moid

0.0308 AU

via Wikipedia infobox