Q141287

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. A. Wirtanen

Discovery site

Lick Obs.

Discovery date

22 October 1947

Named after

Alexander Vyssotsky , (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1947 UC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Hungaria

Observation arc

69.62 yr (25,427 days)

Aphelion

1.9183 AU

Perihelion

1.7793 AU

Semi major axis

1.8488 AU

Orbital period sidereal

2.51 yr (918 days)

Mean anomaly

199.42 °

Mean motion

0° 23 31.56 / day

Inclination

21.173°

Longitude of ascending node

60.602°

Argument of perihelion

50.543°

Dimensions

6.29 ± 0.89 km , 7.00 km (calculated) , 7.41 ± 0.06 km , 7.413 ± 0.057 km, 7.50 ± 0.50 km

Synodic rotation period

3.2 ± 0.01 h , 3.201 ± 0.001 h , 3.201 ± 0.005 h , 3.2011 ± 0.0004 h , 3.201 16 ± 0.000 04 h , 3.201 24 ± 0.000 04 h , 3.201 264 ± 0.000 01 h , 3.201 44 ± 0.000 02 h , 3.204 ± 0.003 h , 3.205 ± 0.003 h , 3.205 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox