Q136641

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

5 January 1930

Pronunciation

/ l ə ˈ r ɪ s ə /

Named after

Larissa (Greek city)

Alternative designations

1930 AC · 1948 KJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda

Observation arc

87.50 yr (31,958 days)

Aphelion

4.3705 AU

Perihelion

3.5082 AU

Semi major axis

3.9393 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.82 yr (2,856 days)

Mean anomaly

315.27 °

Mean motion

0° 7 33.96 / day

Inclination

1.8856°

Longitude of ascending node

39.808°

Argument of perihelion

209.55°

Jupiter moid

0.6683 AU

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

40.379

Orbital period

2846.997411538983

via Wikidata · CC0