Q152241

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

29 January 1894

Pronunciation

French: [ ʒanina ] , German: [ jaːˈniːnaː ]

Alternative designations

1894 AU

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Themis )

Observation arc

122.21 yr (44637 d)

Aphelion

3.65762 AU (547.172 Gm )

Perihelion

2.63074 AU (393.553 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.14418 AU (470.363 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.58 yr (2036.4 d )

Mean anomaly

77.0719 °

Mean motion

0° 10 36.422 / day

Inclination

2.65252°

Longitude of ascending node

93.0518°

Argument of perihelion

322.137°

Mean diameter

45.52 ± 1.8 km

Synodic rotation period

6.4 h (0.27 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0926 ± 0.008

via Wikipedia infobox