Q156043

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

Joel Hastings Metcalf

Discovery site

Taunton, Massachusetts

Discovery date

11 March 1907

Pronunciation

/ k r ɪ ˈ s ɒ θ ɪ m ɪ s /

Alternative designations

1907 YE

Observation arc

108.31 yr (39561 d)

Aphelion

3.5702 AU (534.09 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7782 AU (415.61 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1742 AU (474.85 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.66 yr (2065.7 d )

Mean anomaly

163.254 °

Mean motion

0° 10 27.408 / day

Inclination

0.27131°

Longitude of ascending node

353.465°

Argument of perihelion

172.704°

Mean radius

16.65 km

Sidereal rotation period

42.93 ± 0.01 h

Geometric albedo

0.0633 ± 0.016

via Wikipedia infobox