Q135934

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

22 September 1928

Pronunciation

/ ˈ k l ɛ m ə t ɪ s /

Named after

κληματίς clēmatis , ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1928 SJ · 1928 WB, 1963 TG 1 · 1969 TG 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Alauda

Adjectives

Clematidian

Observation arc

89.17 yr (32,571 days)

Aphelion

3.4833 AU

Perihelion

2.9770 AU

Semi major axis

3.2302 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.81 yr (2,120 days)

Mean anomaly

151.11 °

Mean motion

0° 10 11.28 / day

Inclination

21.424°

Longitude of ascending node

201.98°

Argument of perihelion

107.54°

via Wikipedia infobox