Q142030

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. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

31 March 1916

Named after

Edward Gall ( pathologist )

Alternative designations

A916 FA · 1936 PM, 1949 QG 1 · 1949 SJ, 1961 DB

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

101.07 yr (36,915 days)

Aphelion

2.3818 AU

Perihelion

1.9857 AU

Semi major axis

2.1838 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.23 yr (1,179 days)

Mean anomaly

121.10 °

Mean motion

0° 18 19.44 / day

Inclination

3.0353°

Longitude of ascending node

261.69°

Argument of perihelion

328.08°

Dimensions

7.14 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

24 h

via Wikipedia infobox