Q746405

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

E. F. Helin

Discovery site

Palomar Obs.

Discovery date

4 November 1975

Named after

Edwin Cline (inventor)

Alternative designations

1975 VA · 1936 OO, 1957 LN · 1961 XC, 1961 XK · 1973 AS

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

59.91 yr (21,882 days)

Aphelion

2.8858 AU

Perihelion

1.7351 AU

Semi major axis

2.3104 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.51 yr (1,283 days)

Mean anomaly

18.924 °

Mean motion

0° 16 50.16 / day

Inclination

6.8421°

Longitude of ascending node

42.366°

Argument of perihelion

279.57°

Dimensions

6.03 ± 0.17 km , 7.21 ± 0.50 km , 8.100 ± 0.030 km , 8.18 km (calculated) , 8.401 ± 0.064 km

Synodic rotation period

5.78 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

8.1

Orbital period

1283.823648067

via Wikidata · CC0