Q140507

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

16 September 1938

Named after

Lake Inari (Finnish lake)

Alternative designations

1938 SM · 1933 SZ, 1935 BJ · 1936 FP 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

80.74 yr (29,492 days)

Aphelion

3.1618 AU

Perihelion

2.8486 AU

Semi major axis

3.0052 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.21 yr (1,903 days)

Mean anomaly

325.80 °

Mean motion

0° 11 21.12 / day

Inclination

8.7769°

Longitude of ascending node

330.63°

Argument of perihelion

122.85°

Dimensions

24.439 ± 0.056 km , 26.759 ± 0.099 km , 28.38 km (derived) , 29.53 ± 0.56 km , 30.39 ± 3.24 km

Synodic rotation period

25 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

24.439

Orbital period

1903.651539786174

via Wikidata · CC0