Q137212

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

18 October 1931

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ʃ ɒr i ə /

Named after

Richard Schorr , (1867–1951), (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1931 UJ · 1988 HD

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser · Hungaria

Observation arc

88.52 yr (32,333 d)

Aphelion

2.2056 AU

Perihelion

1.6147 AU

Semi major axis

1.9102 AU

Orbital period sidereal

2.64 yr (964 d)

Mean anomaly

183.19 °

Mean motion

0° 22 23.88 / day

Inclination

24.998°

Longitude of ascending node

12.947°

Argument of perihelion

43.732°

Earth moid

0.6612 AU (257.6 LD )

via Wikipedia infobox