Q753710

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

22 September 1963

Named after

Robert McMath , (astronomer, engineer)

Alternative designations

1963 SR · 1936 BA, 1949 XN · 1951 EP 2 , 1953 RN · 1963 TK

Minor planet category

main-belt · Koronis

Observation arc

67.17 yr (24,535 days)

Aphelion

3.0388 AU

Perihelion

2.6703 AU

Semi major axis

2.8545 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.82 yr (1,762 days)

Mean anomaly

32.257 °

Mean motion

0° 12 15.84 / day

Inclination

1.0053°

Longitude of ascending node

258.11°

Argument of perihelion

154.10°

Dimensions

9.759 ± 0.248 km , 10.31 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

5.547 ± 0.0315 h , 5.57 ± 0.00 h , 5.574 ± 0.002 h , 5.5976 ± 0.0315 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.759

Orbital period

1762.446188000799

via Wikidata · CC0