Q154636

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

Luigi Carnera

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

23 August 1901

Pronunciation

/ ɪ ˈ t æ l i ə /

Named after

Italy

Alternative designations

1901 GR; A905 UK

Observation arc

114.61 yr (41862 d)

Aphelion

2.8698979 AU (429.33061 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9640980 AU (293.82488 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.416998 AU (361.5778 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.76 yr (1372.5 d )

Mean anomaly

224.20862 °

Mean motion

0° 15 44.261 / day

Inclination

5.288912°

Longitude of ascending node

10.68098°

Argument of perihelion

322.42220°

Dimensions

22.51 ± 1.1 km

Synodic rotation period

19.413 h (0.8089 d )

via Wikipedia infobox