Q114631

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

J. H. Metcalf

Discovery site

Winchester Obs.

Discovery date

16 November 1912

Named after

Harvard University , ( Cambridge, Massachusetts )

Alternative designations

A912 WC · 1937 FC, 1947 HB · 1912 PZ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

106.85 yr (39,027 d)

Aphelion

2.5653 AU

Perihelion

1.8382 AU

Semi major axis

2.2018 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.27 yr (1,193 d)

Mean anomaly

28.744 °

Mean motion

0° 18 6.12 / day

Inclination

4.3767°

Longitude of ascending node

135.91°

Argument of perihelion

200.51°

Mean diameter

16.66 ± 0.6 km 17.111 ± 0.125 km 17.92 ± 0.27 km

Synodic rotation period

6.7 h

via Wikipedia infobox