Q148915

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

Alphonse Borrelly

Discovery date

27 August 1884

Pronunciation

/ ˈ v ɑː n ə . d ɪ s /

Named after

Freyja

Alternative designations

A884 QB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

131.61 yr (48072 d)

Aphelion

3.2134 AU (480.72 Gm )

Perihelion

2.1178 AU (316.82 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6656 AU (398.77 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.35 yr (1,589.6 d)

Average orbital speed

18.25 km/s

Mean anomaly

60.5202 °

Mean motion

0° 13 35.292 / day

Inclination

2.1043°

Longitude of ascending node

115.191°

Argument of perihelion

300.174°

Dimensions

103.90 ± 2.5 km , 94.03 ± 5.37 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

87.928

Orbital period

1586.857443548848

via Wikidata · CC0