Q138439

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

29 November 1932

Named after

Auguste Cauvin , (Chief-editor Le Soir )

Alternative designations

1932 WA · 1930 FA 1 , 1931 PC · 1931 RJ 1 , 1935 GM · 1935 JM, 1950 KL · 1961 TL 1 , 1961 VP · A916 NB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

84.51 yr (30,868 days)

Aphelion

3.2803 AU

Perihelion

2.4686 AU

Semi major axis

2.8745 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.87 yr (1,780 days)

Mean anomaly

245.21 °

Mean motion

0° 12 7.92 / day

Inclination

9.4758°

Longitude of ascending node

24.147°

Argument of perihelion

282.70°

Mean diameter

26.92 ± 1.03 km , 27.50 km (derived) , 27.55 ± 1.8 km , 28.02 ± 2.68 km , 29.9 km

Synodic rotation period

16.048 ± 0.003 h , 16.05 ± 0.05 h , 16.1834 ± 0.0005 h , 16.57 h

via Wikipedia infobox