Q147801

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

3 November 1977

Named after

Hugo Hadwiger

Alternative designations

1977 VX · 1932 UC, 1940 SB · 1963 FF, 1969 UU 2 · 1973 SQ 6 , 1975 EA

Minor planet category

main-belt · Maria

Observation arc

83.16 yr (30,374 days)

Aphelion

2.7071 AU

Perihelion

2.4145 AU

Semi major axis

2.5608 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.10 yr (1,497 days)

Mean anomaly

177.54 °

Mean motion

0° 14 25.8 / day

Inclination

15.487°

Longitude of ascending node

27.926°

Argument of perihelion

86.794°

Dimensions

13.767 ± 0.540

Synodic rotation period

5.872 ± 0.002 , 2.29 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

13.767

Orbital period

1497.806259137581

via Wikidata · CC0