Q154133

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

2 October 1899

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɛ d n ə /

Alternative designations

1899 EX

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

116.53 yr (42563 d)

Aphelion

3.82552 AU (572.290 Gm )

Perihelion

2.57569 AU (385.318 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.20060 AU (478.803 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.73 yr (2091.4 d )

Mean anomaly

190.102 °

Mean motion

0° 10 19.668 / day

Inclination

21.2944°

Longitude of ascending node

292.111°

Argument of perihelion

81.2763°

Dimensions

87.17 ± 2.1 km , 88.60 ± 4.10 km

Mass

(3.47 ± 0.78) × 10 kg

Mean density

9.52 ± 2.50 g/cm

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

87.812

Orbital period

2089.140946821433

via Wikidata · CC0