Q120592

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

28 October 1927

Pronunciation

/ ˈ p ɪr ə l ə /

Named after

Pyrola ( wintergreen ), ( herbaceous plant )

Alternative designations

1927 UC · 1931 JQ, 1951 AH · 1952 DS, 1971 YJ · A916 UP

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis

Observation arc

90.01 yr (32,875 days)

Aphelion

3.6858 AU

Perihelion

2.5553 AU

Semi major axis

3.1205 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.51 yr (2,013 days)

Mean anomaly

130.74 °

Mean motion

0° 10 43.68 / day

Inclination

1.8524°

Longitude of ascending node

148.01°

Argument of perihelion

187.23°

Mean diameter

37.363 ± 1.036 km , 39.14 ± 13.91 km , 41.47 ± 12.07 km , 42.607 ± 0.476 km , 42.61 ± 0.48 km , 44.67 ± 0.71 km

via Wikipedia infobox