Q152007

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

14 July 1893

Pronunciation

/ m ə ˈ d ɛ s t i ə /

Named after

modesty

Alternative designations

1893 AC

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

111.53 yr (40736 d)

Aphelion

2.53480 AU (379.201 Gm )

Perihelion

2.11408 AU (316.262 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.32444 AU (347.731 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.54 yr (1294.8 d )

Average orbital speed

19.54 km/s

Mean anomaly

209.268 °

Mean motion

0° 16 40.958 / day

Inclination

7.86393°

Longitude of ascending node

290.942°

Argument of perihelion

68.7121°

Dimensions

38.093 km diameter

via Wikipedia infobox