Q154546

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. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

22 October 1900

Pronunciation

/ ɛr ɪ ˈ f aɪ l ə /

Named after

Eriphyle , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

A900 UJ · 1927 CP, 1946 DB · 1948 OG, 1951 EA 3 · 1957 KB, 1958 RR · 1959 WB, A896 YA · A907 BB, 1900 FQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) Koronis

Observation arc

119.28 yr (43,567 d)

Aphelion

3.1252 AU

Perihelion

2.6181 AU

Semi major axis

2.8717 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.87 yr (1,777 d)

Mean anomaly

224.51 °

Mean motion

0° 12 9 / day

Inclination

3.1927°

Longitude of ascending node

105.28°

Argument of perihelion

251.08°

Mean diameter

34.274 ± 0.221 km 35.63 ± 1.4 km 39.22 ± 0.49 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

34.274

Orbital period

1779.333979927557

via Wikidata · CC0