Q137060

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

A. Schmitt

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

19 January 1932

Named after

Louis Boyer , (French astronomer)

Alternative designations

1932 BA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Eunomia · Maria

Observation arc

85.46 yr (31,214 days)

Aphelion

2.9213 AU

Perihelion

2.2352 AU

Semi major axis

2.5783 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.14 yr (1,512 days)

Mean anomaly

324.91 °

Mean motion

0° 14 17.16 / day

Inclination

15.915°

Longitude of ascending node

123.74°

Argument of perihelion

266.02°

Dimensions

13.041 ± 0.106 km , 14.705 ± 0.091 km , 17.47 km (calculated) , 20.68 ± 0.79 km , 23.06 ± 4.95 km , 24.65 ± 0.36 km

Synodic rotation period

10.36 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox