Q155401

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

P. Götz

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

10 October 1904

Pronunciation

/ h ɪ ˈ r oʊ d i ə s /

Named after

Herodias

Alternative designations

1904 PA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Eunomian interloper

Observation arc

111.48 yr (40719 d)

Aphelion

2.89852 AU (433.612 Gm )

Perihelion

2.29588 AU (343.459 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.59720 AU (388.536 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.19 yr (1528.8 d )

Mean anomaly

149.511 °

Mean motion

0° 14 7.714 / day

Inclination

14.8547°

Longitude of ascending node

21.7900°

Argument of perihelion

108.626°

Dimensions

66.02 ± 3.8 km (mean)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

65.945

Orbital period

1528.389543087462

via Wikidata · CC0