Q157788

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. Schwassmann

Discovery site

Bergedorf

Discovery date

30 October 1918

Pronunciation

/ j uː n ɪ ˈ v ɜːr s ɪ t æ s /

Alternative designations

1918 ES; 1961 WE

Observation arc

97.47 yr (35600 days)

Aphelion

2.5561 AU (382.39 Gm )

Perihelion

1.8751 AU (280.51 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.2156 AU (331.45 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.30 yr (1204.6 d )

Mean anomaly

240.325 °

Mean motion

0° 17 55.896 / day

Inclination

5.3261°

Longitude of ascending node

37.179°

Argument of perihelion

343.300°

Earth moid

0.877341 AU (131.2483 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.8967 AU (433.34 Gm)

Mean radius

10.665 ± 1.2 km

via Wikipedia infobox