Q157855

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, Bergedorf

Discovery date

27 April 1919

Pronunciation

/ m ə ˈ r ɪ t ɪ m ə /

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

85.59 yr (31263 days)

Aphelion

3.6842 AU (551.15 Gm ) (Q)

Perihelion

2.5842 AU (386.59 Gm) (q)

Semi major axis

3.1342 AU (468.87 Gm) (a)

Eccentricity

0.17548 (e)

Orbital period sidereal

5.55 yr (2026.7 d )

Mean anomaly

282.25 ° (M)

Mean motion

0° 10 39.468 / day (n)

Inclination

18.344° (i)

Longitude of ascending node

34.032° (Ω)

Argument of perihelion

88.889° (ω)

Mean radius

41.585 ± 1 km ( IRAS )

Synodic rotation period

1,332 h (55.5 d )

Geometric albedo

0.1115 ± 0.006

via Wikipedia infobox