Q158489

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 Obs.

Discovery date

18 November 1922

Pronunciation

/ ʃ w æ s ˈ m æ n i ə , ʃ v ɑː s -/

Named after

Friedrich Karl Arnold Schwassmann , (discoverer himself)

Alternative designations

A922 WD · 1922 MW, 1935 UE · 1935 UF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

96.49 yr (35,244 d)

Aphelion

3.3261 AU

Perihelion

1.9915 AU

Semi major axis

2.6588 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.34 yr (1,584 d)

Mean anomaly

83.840 °

Mean motion

0° 13 38.28 / day

Inclination

14.700°

Longitude of ascending node

243.40°

Argument of perihelion

165.73°

Mean diameter

12.20 ± 1.12 km 12.630 ± 0.124 km 12.86 ± 0.8 km

via Wikipedia infobox