Q138895

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

19 January 1937

Named after

Philippe Lagrula (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1937 BA · 1929 US, 1962 XM

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

86.64 yr (31,644 days)

Aphelion

2.4645 AU

Perihelion

1.9648 AU

Semi major axis

2.2147 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.30 yr (1,204 days)

Mean anomaly

145.58 °

Mean motion

0° 17 56.4 / day

Inclination

4.7178°

Longitude of ascending node

66.118°

Argument of perihelion

14.052°

Dimensions

7.78 ± 1.36 km , 7.806 ± 0.075 km , 9.068 ± 0.047 km , 23 ± 3 km , 23.98 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

5.882 ± 0.001 h , 5.9176 ± 0.0001 h

via Wikipedia infobox