Q919686

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

E. Bowell

Discovery site

Anderson Mesa Stn.

Discovery date

11 February 1980

Pronunciation

/ k æ l ˈ p ɜːr n i ə /

Named after

Calpurnia ( Julius Caesar 's wife)

Alternative designations

1980 CF · 1972 XN 2 , 1976 OE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

62.57 yr (22,854 days)

Aphelion

3.3624 AU

Perihelion

2.8997 AU

Semi major axis

3.1311 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.54 yr (2,024 days)

Mean anomaly

248.88 °

Mean motion

0° 10 40.44 / day

Inclination

4.6207°

Longitude of ascending node

145.71°

Argument of perihelion

47.930°

Dimensions

18 ± 1 km , 20.854 ± 0.281 km , 27.6 ± 2.3 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.854

Orbital period

2019.225007920892

via Wikidata · CC0