Q156773

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

A. Massinger

Discovery site

Heidelberg

Discovery date

11 February 1912

Pronunciation

/ n ɪ ˈ p oʊ n i ə /

Alternative designations

1912 NT

Observation arc

102.89 yr (37582 d)

Aphelion

2.8378 AU (424.53 Gm )

Perihelion

2.2944 AU (343.24 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.5661 AU (383.88 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.11 yr (1501.5 d )

Mean anomaly

210.761 °

Mean motion

0° 14 23.172 / day

Inclination

15.060°

Longitude of ascending node

133.068°

Argument of perihelion

274.978°

Mean radius

16.085 ± 0.75 km

Synodic rotation period

3.974 ± 0.001 h , 5.0687 h (0.21120 d )

Geometric albedo

0.2423 ± 0.025

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

32.17

Orbital period

1502.462823198023

via Wikidata · CC0