Q277625

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

J. Schubart

Discovery site

Sonneberg Obs.

Discovery date

29 July 1960

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h ɜːr ʃ əl /

Named after

William Herschel , (German-British astronomer)

Alternative designations

1960 OA · 1934 NX

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Phocaea

Observation arc

84.08 yr (30,712 d)

Aphelion

3.0885 AU

Perihelion

1.6708 AU

Semi major axis

2.3796 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.67 yr (1,341 d)

Mean anomaly

293.69 °

Mean motion

0° 16 6.6 / day

Inclination

22.819°

Longitude of ascending node

291.92°

Argument of perihelion

130.51°

Mean diameter

14.768 ± 0.348 km , 16.15 ± 3.11 km , 16.86 ± 1.17 km , 17.385 ± 0.173 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

14.768

Orbital period

1341.355323780667

via Wikidata · CC0