Q140956

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

L. Boyer

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

22 March 1949

Named after

Georges Meyer, (astronomer, director)

Alternative designations

1949 FD · 1930 KE, 1935 CW

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

87.03 yr (31,786 days)

Aphelion

3.6602 AU

Perihelion

3.4133 AU

Semi major axis

3.5368 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.65 yr (2,429 days)

Mean anomaly

137.01 °

Mean motion

0° 8 53.52 / day

Inclination

14.479°

Longitude of ascending node

245.64°

Argument of perihelion

262.24°

Dimensions

57.785 ± 0.435 km , 58.88 km (derived) , 60.82 ± 1.30 km , 69.966 ± 3.256 km

Synodic rotation period

12.64 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox