Q782166

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

C. Torres , S. Cofré

Discovery site

Cerro El Roble Stn.

Discovery date

18 July 1968

Named after

Galvarino ( Mapuche warrior)

Alternative designations

1968 OD

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eos

Observation arc

48.69 yr (17,783 days)

Aphelion

3.1367 AU

Perihelion

2.8468 AU

Semi major axis

2.9917 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.17 yr (1,890 days)

Mean anomaly

197.49 °

Mean motion

0° 11 25.8 / day

Inclination

10.570°

Longitude of ascending node

182.59°

Argument of perihelion

98.241°

Dimensions

9.597 ± 0.105 km , 10.24 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

7.004 h

via Wikipedia infobox