Q153853

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

8 November 1898

Pronunciation

/ ˈ zj uː k s oʊ /

Named after

Ζευξώ Zeyxō

Alternative designations

1898 DU

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Zeuxoian / zj uː k ˈ s oʊ . i ə n /

Observation arc

117.43 yr (42893 d)

Aphelion

2.72775 AU (408.066 Gm )

Perihelion

2.38099 AU (356.191 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.55437 AU (382.128 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.08 yr (1491.2 d )

Mean anomaly

83.4825 °

Mean motion

0° 14 29.119 / day

Inclination

7.37183°

Longitude of ascending node

49.1436°

Argument of perihelion

211.380°

Dimensions

61.14 ± 3.9 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

58.871

Orbital period

1492.00687292116

via Wikidata · CC0