Q463917

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

22 August 1882

Pronunciation

/ æ d ə ˈ l ɪ n d ə /

Alternative designations

A882 QB, 1908 UG, 1946 UK, 1981 GU 1

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Cybele )

Observation arc

131.10 yr (47884 d)

Aphelion

3.89751 AU (583.059 Gm )

Perihelion

2.94561 AU (440.657 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.42156 AU (511.858 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

6.33 yr (2311.7 d )

Average orbital speed

16.12 km/s

Mean anomaly

78.0401 °

Mean motion

0° 9 20.621 / day

Inclination

2.07871°

Longitude of ascending node

28.0490°

Argument of perihelion

311.263°

Dimensions

93.20 ± 4.3 km

Synodic rotation period

6.60 h (0.275 d )

via Wikipedia infobox