Q154016

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

M. Wolf , A. Schwassmann

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

15 February 1899

Pronunciation

/ aɪ k s ˈ f ɛ l d i ə /

Named after

Eichsfeld

Alternative designations

1899 EE; A892 FA

Minor planet category

main-belt

Observation arc

123.78 yr (45211 d)

Aphelion

2.5112 AU (375.67 Gm )

Perihelion

2.1796 AU (326.06 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.3454 AU (350.87 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.59 yr (1312.0 d )

Mean anomaly

185.97 °

Mean motion

0° 16 27.84 / day

Inclination

6.0689°

Longitude of ascending node

134.93°

Argument of perihelion

85.047°

Earth moid

1.18144 AU (176.741 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

62.171

Mass

195

Orbital period

1312.105009338451

via Wikidata · CC0