Q150317

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

Purple Mountain Obs.

Discovery site

Purple Mountain Obs.

Discovery date

23 October 1981

Named after

Zhuhai (Chinese city)

Alternative designations

1981 UV 9 · 1955 MC, 1973 UK 4 · 1975 GC, 1977 TN 7 · 1977 VL 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background · Maria

Observation arc

62.44 yr (22,808 d)

Aphelion

2.7128 AU

Perihelion

2.4104 AU

Semi major axis

2.5616 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.10 yr (1,497 d)

Mean anomaly

236.34 °

Mean motion

0° 14 25.44 / day

Inclination

14.350°

Longitude of ascending node

232.57°

Argument of perihelion

243.97°

Mean diameter

13.58 ± 0.90 km , 13.581 ± 0.896 km , 14.01 ± 0.86 km

Synodic rotation period

5.263 ± 0.002 h , 5.268 ± 0.003 h , 6.152 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

13.581

Orbital period

1498.094086200438

via Wikidata · CC0