Q136667

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

P. Parchomenko

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

27 June 1930

Named after

Shakuntala , ( Sanskrit drama )

Alternative designations

1930 MA · 1962 KA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

86.75 yr (31,685 days)

Aphelion

3.0650 AU

Perihelion

2.0044 AU

Semi major axis

2.5347 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.04 yr (1,474 days)

Mean anomaly

177.36 °

Mean motion

0° 14 39.12 / day

Inclination

18.924°

Longitude of ascending node

106.69°

Argument of perihelion

189.92°

Dimensions

22.70 ± 5.56 km , 25.78 km (derived) , 26.011 ± 0.181 km , 26.32 ± 0.39 km , 28.74 ± 0.9 km , 29.249 ± 0.130 km

Synodic rotation period

6.29 ± 0.01 h , 6.2915 ± 0.0002 h , 6.30 ± 0.02 h , 20 h

via Wikipedia infobox