Q155609

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Vienna

Discovery date

27 July 1905

Pronunciation

/ ˈ m aɪ s ə /

Alternative designations

1905 QT

Minor planet category

main belt Misa family

Observation arc

106.68 yr (38965 d)

Aphelion

3.1381 AU (469.45 Gm )

Perihelion

2.1756 AU (325.47 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6569 AU (397.47 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.33 yr (1581.8 d )

Mean anomaly

131.636 °

Mean motion

0° 13 39.324 / day

Inclination

1.2915°

Longitude of ascending node

301.720°

Argument of perihelion

142.950°

Mean radius

36.475 ± 0.8 km

Synodic rotation period

13.52 h (0.563 d )

via Wikipedia infobox