Q157984

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

4 July 1919

Pronunciation

/ p æ l ɪ ˈ s eɪ n ə /

Named after

Johann Palisa , (Austrian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1919 FN · A904 PB, A916 WC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Phocaea

Observation arc

84.07 yr (30,706 days)

Aphelion

2.9857 AU

Perihelion

1.9300 AU

Semi major axis

2.4578 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.85 yr (1,407 days)

Mean anomaly

71.191 °

Mean motion

0° 15 20.88 / day

Inclination

25.206°

Longitude of ascending node

255.80°

Argument of perihelion

49.144°

Dimensions

76 km , 76.61 ± 1.7 km , 77.000 ± 13.12 km , 91.2 km , 97.33 ± 1.49 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

76.19

Orbital period

1406.499781829444

via Wikidata · CC0