Q141085

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

M. Itzigsohn

Discovery site

La Plata Obs.

Discovery date

15 June 1950

Named after

Eva Perón , (First Lady of Argentina)

Alternative designations

1950 LY

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

67.05 yr (24,490 days)

Aphelion

3.5573 AU

Perihelion

2.7521 AU

Semi major axis

3.1547 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.60 yr (2,047 days)

Mean anomaly

29.638 °

Mean motion

0° 10 33.24 / day

Inclination

11.608°

Longitude of ascending node

93.914°

Argument of perihelion

128.10°

Dimensions

34.42 ± 10.19 km , 36.32 ± 0.56 km , 36.69 km (derived) , 36.79 ± 2.6 km , 37.06 ± 12.76 km , 37.252 ± 0.111 km , 39.47 ± 0.46 km , 39.969 ± 0.292 km

Synodic rotation period

9.84 ± 0.01 h , 15.665 ± 0.004 h (dated) , 15.757 ± 0.005 h (dated)

via Wikipedia infobox