Q155305

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery site

Nice

Discovery date

7 July 1904

Pronunciation

/ ˈ p ɔː l i /

Alternative designations

1904 OG

Observation arc

114.14 yr (41691 d)

Aphelion

3.7772 AU (565.06 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3733 AU (355.04 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.0753 AU (460.06 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.39 yr (1969.8 d )

Mean anomaly

296.893 °

Mean motion

0° 10 57.936 / day

Inclination

9.8718°

Longitude of ascending node

120.196°

Argument of perihelion

187.218°

Mean radius

19.555 ± 1.15 km

Synodic rotation period

16.252 h (0.6772 d )

Geometric albedo

0.3489 ± 0.046

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q155319

Follows

536 Merapi

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

40.732

Orbital period

1961.881461379362

via Wikidata · CC0