Q139807

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

29 April 1938

Pronunciation

/ p ɒ ˈ s t r iː m ə /

Named after

postrēma , ("the last of a group")

Alternative designations

1938 HC · 1933 DH, A911 KC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Postrema

Adjectives

Postremian

Observation arc

84.61 yr (30,903 days)

Aphelion

3.2973 AU

Perihelion

2.1816 AU

Semi major axis

2.7394 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.53 yr (1,656 days)

Mean anomaly

194.22 °

Mean motion

0° 13 2.64 / day

Inclination

17.300°

Longitude of ascending node

72.767°

Argument of perihelion

126.82°

via Wikipedia infobox