Q156712

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 Obs.

Discovery date

30 July 1911

Pronunciation

/ ˈ b ɜːr k l iː /

Named after

Berkeley , (U.S. City, California)

Alternative designations

A911 OC · 1947 CH, 1952 FA · A906 OB, 1911 MD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Observation arc

113.32 yr (41,390 d)

Aphelion

3.0557 AU

Perihelion

2.5682 AU

Semi major axis

2.8120 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.72 yr (1,722 d)

Mean anomaly

136.21 °

Mean motion

0° 12 32.4 / day

Inclination

8.4872°

Longitude of ascending node

145.89°

Argument of perihelion

56.811°

Mean diameter

19.768 ± 0.167 km 21.28 ± 1.5 km 21.55 ± 0.57 km

via Wikipedia infobox