Q152774

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

B. A. Skiff

Discovery site

Anderson Mesa Stn.

Discovery date

12 January 1983

Named after

John Lennon , (musician, The Beatles )

Alternative designations

1983 AY · 1971 YG, 1980 KA

Minor planet category

main-belt · Vestian

Observation arc

44.51 yr (16,258 days)

Aphelion

2.5524 AU

Perihelion

2.1712 AU

Semi major axis

2.3618 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.63 yr (1,326 days)

Mean anomaly

88.732 °

Mean motion

0° 16 17.4 / day

Inclination

5.7326°

Longitude of ascending node

288.57°

Argument of perihelion

302.94°

Dimensions

5.171 ± 0.087 km , 7.13 ± 0.37 km , 7.46 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

137 h

via Wikipedia infobox