Q150392

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

Geometric albedo

0.0910 ± 0.008

Discovered by

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

15 July 1890

Alternative designations

A890 NA, 1913 VA, 1926 AG, 1929 NE, 1951 PA, 1973 KD

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

109.86 yr (40125 d)

Aphelion

3.90240 AU (583.791 Gm )

Perihelion

2.41114 AU (360.701 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.15677 AU (472.246 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.61 yr (2048.6 d )

Mean anomaly

214.894 °

Mean motion

0° 10 32.621 / day

Inclination

6.28170°

Longitude of ascending node

135.998°

Argument of perihelion

185.309°

Dimensions

52.97 ± 2.2 km

Synodic rotation period

10.4227 h (0.43428 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

51.865

Orbital period

2049.126699673449

via Wikidata · CC0