Q138210

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

L. Boyer

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

27 December 1934

Named after

Yvette (discoverer's niece)

Alternative designations

1934 YA · 1930 DO, 1942 GW

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis

Observation arc

82.84 yr (30,256 days)

Aphelion

3.5930 AU

Perihelion

2.7754 AU

Semi major axis

3.1842 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.68 yr (2,075 days)

Mean anomaly

123.54 °

Mean motion

0° 10 24.6 / day

Inclination

0.4161°

Longitude of ascending node

345.69°

Argument of perihelion

224.26°

Dimensions

25.87 ± 2.6 km , 28.40 ± 1.70 km , 28.63 ± 0.55 km , 29.451 ± 0.278 km , 30.3 ± 3.0 km , 32 ± 3 km , 33.061 ± 0.632 km

Synodic rotation period

3.525 h

via Wikipedia infobox