Q844962

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

University of Chile , ( National Astronomical Observatory of Chile )

Discovery site

Cerro El Roble Stn.

Discovery date

22 October 1971

Named after

Battle of Tucapel

Alternative designations

1971 UH 4 · 1936 PL, 1940 XC · 1942 EP 1 , 1950 TP 2 · 1969 AT, 1974 MM · 1974 NA, 1974 OJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

76.32 yr (27,876 days)

Aphelion

2.8074 AU

Perihelion

1.7714 AU

Semi major axis

2.2894 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.46 yr (1,265 days)

Mean anomaly

130.64 °

Mean motion

0° 17 4.2 / day

Inclination

7.5036°

Longitude of ascending node

96.545°

Argument of perihelion

238.12°

Dimensions

10.61 ± 0.72 km , 11.187 ± 0.380 km , 11.84 km (calculated) , 12.16 ± 0.75 km , 12.685 ± 0.065 km

Synodic rotation period

9.028 ± 0.008 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

11.187

Orbital period

1265.258016724863

via Wikidata · CC0