Q154312

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. W. Elst

Discovery site

Haute-Provence Obs.

Discovery date

17 September 1988

Pronunciation

/ d ɛ b j ʊ ˈ s iː / etc.

Named after

Claude Debussy , (French composer)

Alternative designations

1988 SH · 1979 SZ 10 , 1979 VF 1 · 1981 EC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

65.65 yr (23,977 days)

Aphelion

3.2631 AU

Perihelion

2.2692 AU

Semi major axis

2.7662 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.60 yr (1,680 days)

Mean anomaly

76.633 °

Mean motion

0° 12 51.12 / day

Inclination

8.0241°

Longitude of ascending node

350.05°

Argument of perihelion

52.507°

Mean diameter

13.23 ± 3.97 km , 14.64 km (calculated) , 14.75 ± 0.91 km , 16.5 ± 1.9 km , 17.14 ± 2.94 km , 17.359 ± 0.697 km

via Wikipedia infobox