Q522217

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

29 March 1955

Named after

Edwin Hubble (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1955 FT · 1953 VN 1 , 1969 TB 1 · 1970 WA 1 , 1975 TT 3

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

62.22 yr (22,727 days)

Aphelion

3.7484 AU

Perihelion

2.5729 AU

Semi major axis

3.1606 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.62 yr (2,052 days)

Mean anomaly

81.951 °

Mean motion

0° 10 31.44 / day

Inclination

9.1064°

Longitude of ascending node

46.406°

Argument of perihelion

70.185°

Dimensions

34.44 km (derived) , 34.53 ± 2.3 km , 38.471 ± 0.151 km , 39.54 ± 10.25 km , 40.10 ± 0.84 km , 40.615 ± 0.281 km , 45.82 ± 12.40 km , 46.92 ± 16.56 km

Synodic rotation period

32.52 ± 0.02 h

via Wikipedia infobox