Q844939

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

9 September 1959

Named after

Edward H. Spicer , (American anthropologist )

Alternative designations

1959 RN · 1952 BS 1 , 1955 XC · 1968 QX, 1973 YR 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

60.34 yr (22,038 days)

Aphelion

3.3313 AU

Perihelion

2.0659 AU

Semi major axis

2.6986 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.43 yr (1,619 days)

Mean anomaly

350.70 °

Mean motion

0° 13 20.28 / day

Inclination

6.4348°

Longitude of ascending node

328.09°

Argument of perihelion

66.381°

Dimensions

16.721 ± 0.088 km , 18.43 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

18.165 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

16.721

Orbital period

1621.019080143103

via Wikidata · CC0