Q153948

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

13 October 1898

Pronunciation

/ θ iː ə ˈ d ɔːr ə /

Alternative designations

1898 EC

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

117.50 yr (42917 d)

Aphelion

2.44735 AU (366.118 Gm )

Perihelion

1.97352 AU (295.234 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.21043 AU (330.676 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.29 yr (1200.4 d )

Mean anomaly

224.670 °

Mean motion

0° 17 59.669 / day

Inclination

1.59566°

Longitude of ascending node

292.133°

Argument of perihelion

179.039°

Dimensions

13.6 km

Synodic rotation period

4.828 h (0.2012 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

13.6

Orbital period

1200.484638903207

Image

440Theodora (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0