Q857248

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

R. M. West

Discovery site

La Silla Obs.

Discovery date

24 October 1976

Named after

Tamara West, (discoverer's wife)

Alternative designations

1976 UN · 1928 TD, 1939 YA · 1942 JE, 1949 UV · 1951 CP 1 , 1952 FL · 1952 HL 2 , 1954 TS · 1975 WB 2 , A902 UB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

114.10 yr (41,676 days)

Aphelion

3.2627 AU

Perihelion

2.7529 AU

Semi major axis

3.0078 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.22 yr (1,905 days)

Mean anomaly

340.25 °

Mean motion

0° 11 20.04 / day

Inclination

9.5008°

Longitude of ascending node

213.86°

Argument of perihelion

204.82°

Dimensions

26.799 ± 0.156 km , 27.51 ± 0.50 km , 27.574 ± 0.238 km , 29.11 ± 5.31 km , 30.45 ± 2.2 km ( IRAS :3)

Synodic rotation period

7.462 ± 0.003 h , 7.470 ± 0.002 h , 7.4702 ± 0.0004 h , 7.471 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox