Q152792

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

31 August 1984

Named after

Richard Starkey , ( Ringo Starr , The Beatles )

Alternative designations

1984 QC 1 · 1957 KG, 1964 RH · 1973 FD 2 , 1974 QM 1 · 1980 EA 2 , 1981 TO 2 · 1981 WE 6 , 1981 WJ 3 · 1988 YC, 2004 SL 12

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

60.02 yr (21,922 days)

Aphelion

2.6034 AU

Perihelion

1.8620 AU

Semi major axis

2.2327 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,219 days)

Mean anomaly

332.80 °

Mean motion

0° 17 43.44 / day

Inclination

3.1948°

Longitude of ascending node

122.92°

Argument of perihelion

197.41°

Dimensions

6.641 ± 0.032 , 6.903 ± 0.050 km , 7.47 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

4.5179 ± 0.0005 h , 6.8 h

via Wikipedia infobox