Q139353

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

8 March 1938

Pronunciation

/ ˈ f ɛ n i ə /

Named after

Finland (Scandinavian country)

Alternative designations

1938 ED 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Hungaria · background

Observation arc

79.50 yr (29,037 days)

Aphelion

1.9502 AU

Perihelion

1.8438 AU

Semi major axis

1.8970 AU

Orbital period sidereal

2.61 yr (954 days)

Mean anomaly

72.856 °

Mean motion

0° 22 37.92 / day

Inclination

23.675°

Longitude of ascending node

7.0898°

Argument of perihelion

254.79°

Known satellites

1 ( D : 1.95 km ; P : 23.55 h )

via Wikipedia infobox