Q150222

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

3 August 1889

Pronunciation

/ r ɪ ˈ dʒ aɪ n ə / rij- EYE -nə

Alternative designations

A889 PA, 1911 QJ, 1951 AC 1

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

104.63 yr (38215 d)

Aphelion

3.72130 AU (556.699 Gm )

Perihelion

2.44540 AU (365.827 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.08335 AU (461.263 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.41 yr (1977.6 d )

Average orbital speed

16.97 km/s

Mean anomaly

137.349 °

Mean motion

0° 10 55.348 / day

Inclination

17.6192°

Longitude of ascending node

311.385°

Argument of perihelion

14.4439°

Dimensions

45.13 ± 2.2 km

Synodic rotation period

9.542 h (0.3976 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

47.156

Orbital period

1981.431850004925

via Wikidata · CC0