Q140745

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 Observatory

Discovery date

24 February 1938

Named after

Friedrich Bessel , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1938 DE 1 · 1933 FJ 1 , 1948 EH · 1951 UF

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eos

Observation arc

84.11 yr (30,722 days)

Aphelion

3.3068 AU

Perihelion

2.7174 AU

Semi major axis

3.0121 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,909 days)

Mean anomaly

185.26 °

Mean motion

0° 11 18.6 / day

Inclination

9.8367°

Longitude of ascending node

9.9835°

Argument of perihelion

39.607°

Dimensions

16.63 ± 0.84 km , 18.33 km (derived) , 18.514 ± 0.066 km , 18.817 ± 0.101 km

Synodic rotation period

8.963 18 ± 0.000 02 h , 8.996 ± 0.006 h

via Wikipedia infobox