Q153499

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

18 December 1897

Pronunciation

/ ˈ n ɛ f ə l iː /

Named after

Nephele

Alternative designations

1897 DN

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Themis )

Adjectives

Nephelean / n ɛ f ɪ ˈ l iː ə n /

Observation arc

113.52 yr (41462 d)

Aphelion

3.67837 AU (550.276 Gm )

Perihelion

2.61178 AU (390.717 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.14507 AU (470.496 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.58 yr (2037.3 d )

Mean anomaly

230.611 °

Mean motion

0° 10 36.152 / day

Inclination

1.82752°

Longitude of ascending node

117.229°

Argument of perihelion

216.161°

Mean diameter

101.900 ± 0.988 km , 94.58 ± 1.03 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

101.9

Orbital period

2038.037283896448

via Wikidata · CC0