467 Laura

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

Max Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Observatory

Discovery date

9 January 1901

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l ɔːr ə / , Italian: [ ˈlaura ]

Alternative designations

1901 FY; 1954 OE; A924 RG

Observation arc

115.03 yr (42015 d)

Aphelion

3.26446 AU (488.356 Gm )

Perihelion

2.62441 AU (392.606 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.94444 AU (440.482 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.05 yr (1845.4 d )

Mean anomaly

5.2504112 °

Mean motion

0° 11 42.269 / day

Inclination

6.43615°

Longitude of ascending node

322.48119°

Argument of perihelion

91.31635°

Dimensions

41.96 ± 3.2 km

Synodic rotation period

36.8 h (1.53 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0633 ± 0.011

via Wikipedia infobox