Q139703

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

6 February 1938

Named after

A. Vihuri ( philanthropist )

Alternative designations

1938 CF · 1934 CG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

110.54 yr (40,374 days)

Aphelion

2.6885 AU

Perihelion

2.2439 AU

Semi major axis

2.4662 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.87 yr (1,415 days)

Mean anomaly

216.50 °

Mean motion

0° 15 16.2 / day

Inclination

7.8326°

Longitude of ascending node

318.57°

Argument of perihelion

161.04°

Dimensions

8.45 km (derived) , 9.52 ± 1.30 km , 11.19 ± 0.79 km

Synodic rotation period

19.5 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.523

Orbital period

1414.371963068981

via Wikidata · CC0