Q155976

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

August Kopff

Discovery date

7 March 1907

Pronunciation

/ juː ˈ f iː m i ə /

Named after

Euphemia

Alternative designations

1907 XW; A924 DC

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Eunomia family )

Observation arc

91.87 yr (33557 d)

Aphelion

2.9153 AU (436.12 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3334 AU (349.07 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6244 AU (392.60 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.25 yr (1552.9 d )

Mean anomaly

273.57 °

Mean motion

0° 13 54.588 / day

Inclination

13.855°

Longitude of ascending node

105.419°

Argument of perihelion

40.148°

Mean radius

8.605 ± 0.45 km , 8.5 km

Mean density

~2.7 g/cm

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

15.542

Orbital period

1553.170350700537

via Wikidata · CC0