Q157097

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

24 June 1914

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l eɪ n ə /

Named after

Elena Neujmina, (discoverer's family)

Alternative designations

1914 UU · 1970 CE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

81.69 yr (29,837 days)

Aphelion

3.0817 AU

Perihelion

2.2907 AU

Semi major axis

2.6862 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.40 yr (1,608 days)

Mean anomaly

110.02 °

Mean motion

0° 13 26.04 / day

Inclination

10.781°

Longitude of ascending node

232.62°

Argument of perihelion

44.006°

Dimensions

20.56 ± 0.34 km , 22.483 ± 0.306 , 23.871 ± 0.162 km , 24.18 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

22.483

Orbital period

1607.430232748529

via Wikidata · CC0