Q141583

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

A. Schmitt

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

15 March 1952

Named after

Jean Chacornac , (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1952 EA · 1932 DD, 1933 UX · 1939 KE, 1942 EB 1 · 1949 KF, 1952 DP 2 · 1953 TM 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

85.94 yr (31,388 days)

Aphelion

2.5989 AU

Perihelion

1.8705 AU

Semi major axis

2.2347 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,220 days)

Mean anomaly

146.41 °

Mean motion

0° 17 42 / day

Inclination

6.4607°

Longitude of ascending node

4.3644°

Argument of perihelion

256.53°

Dimensions

8.43 ± 0.32 km , 9.85 km (calculated) , 10.27 ± 0.65 km

Synodic rotation period

11.485 ± 0.006 h , 12.2044 ± 0.0041 h , 12.206 ± 0.002 h , 12.2190 ± 0.0116 h

via Wikipedia infobox