Q153895

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

E. F. Coddington

Discovery date

October 13 1898

Pronunciation

/ oʊ ˈ h aɪ . oʊ /

Alternative designations

1898 EB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

117.46 yr (42903 d)

Aphelion

3.32739 AU (497.770 Gm )

Perihelion

2.93686 AU (439.348 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.13212 AU (468.558 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.54 yr (2024.7 d )

Mean anomaly

35.2583 °

Mean motion

0° 10 40.102 / day

Inclination

19.1544°

Longitude of ascending node

201.562°

Argument of perihelion

241.820°

Dimensions

76.57 ± 2.2 km

Synodic rotation period

37.46 h (1.561 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0352 ± 0.002

via Wikipedia infobox