Q267659

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

H. Potter , A. Lokalov

Discovery site

Cerro El Roble Stn.

Discovery date

8 January 1970

Named after

Timothy Spahr , ( MPC director)

Alternative designations

1970 AF 1 · 1957 HU, 1967 GH · 1970 AK 1 , 1970 CB · 1978 PF 4

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background · Flora

Observation arc

61.07 yr (22,304 d)

Aphelion

2.4621 AU

Perihelion

2.0351 AU

Semi major axis

2.2486 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.37 yr (1,232 d)

Mean anomaly

44.830 °

Mean motion

0° 17 32.28 / day

Inclination

6.8979°

Longitude of ascending node

236.58°

Argument of perihelion

317.02°

Mean diameter

5.919 ± 0.107 km , 6.032 ± 0.082 km , 6.51 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

11.946 ± 0.006 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

5.919

Orbital period

1231.236808335056

via Wikidata · CC0