Q107661

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

A. de Gasparis

Discovery site

Capodimonte Obs.

Discovery date

10 February 1861

Pronunciation

/ ɔː ˈ s oʊ n i ə /

Named after

Ausonia , (ancient name for Italy)

Alternative designations

1947 NA · 1948 WT

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Vesta

Adjectives

Ausonian / ɔː ˈ s oʊ n i ə n /

Observation arc

156.34 yr (57,104 days)

Aphelion

2.6993 AU

Perihelion

2.0910 AU

Semi major axis

2.3951 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.71 yr (1,354 days)

Mean anomaly

340.16 °

Mean motion

0° 15 57.24 / day

Inclination

5.7763°

Longitude of ascending node

337.75°

Argument of perihelion

295.78°

via Wikipedia infobox