Q126315

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

23 August 1938

Named after

Marilyn Herget , (daughter of astronomer) , Paul Herget

Alternative designations

1938 QA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

79.11 yr (28,894 days)

Aphelion

2.4725 AU

Perihelion

1.9245 AU

Semi major axis

2.1985 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.26 yr (1,191 days)

Mean anomaly

93.483 °

Mean motion

0° 18 8.64 / day

Inclination

0.0751°

Longitude of ascending node

333.23°

Argument of perihelion

350.11°

Dimensions

6.13 ± 0.42 km , 6.414 ± 0.086 km , 6.925 ± 0.051 km , 8.18 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

2.2837 ± 0.0001 h (dated) , 4.566 ± 0.004 h , 4.566 945 ± 0.000 001 h , 4.566 95 ± 0.000 05 h , 4.568 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox