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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

Discovery date

13 February 1901

Pronunciation

/ p r uː ˈ d ɛ n ʃ i ə /

Alternative designations

1901 GD; 1929 NG; 1933 OO; A902 NA; A910 RB

Observation arc

115.17 yr (42065 d)

Aphelion

2.9709281 AU (444.44452 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9373448 AU (289.82266 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.454136 AU (367.1335 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.84 yr (1404.3 d )

Mean anomaly

216.99456 °

Mean motion

0° 15 22.908 / day

Inclination

8.798779°

Longitude of ascending node

161.83700°

Argument of perihelion

155.84500°

Dimensions

37.58 ± 3.5 km

Synodic rotation period

8.572 h (0.3572 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0720 ± 0.016

via Wikipedia infobox