Q140214

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

C. Jackson

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

15 May 1939

Named after

Xhosa people , ( Bantu ethnic group)

Alternative designations

1939 JC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

77.97 yr (28,477 days)

Aphelion

3.2408 AU

Perihelion

1.9052 AU

Semi major axis

2.5730 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.13 yr (1,507 days)

Mean anomaly

338.30 °

Mean motion

0° 14 19.68 / day

Inclination

12.550°

Longitude of ascending node

234.53°

Argument of perihelion

45.154°

Dimensions

11.83 km (calculated) , 13.963 ± 0.702 km

Synodic rotation period

5.90 ± 0.01 h (dated) , 5.9 ± 0.1 h (dated) , 292 ± 3 h , 298.0659 ± 5.5273 h

via Wikipedia infobox