Q142382

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

3 March 1951

Named after

Alexander Wilkens, (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1951 EQ 1 · 1964 JC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Mitidika

Observation arc

66.05 yr (24,123 days)

Aphelion

3.2511 AU

Perihelion

1.9834 AU

Semi major axis

2.6173 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.23 yr (1,547 days)

Mean anomaly

158.97 °

Mean motion

0° 13 58.08 / day

Inclination

11.763°

Longitude of ascending node

245.77°

Argument of perihelion

42.399°

Dimensions

12.12 km (calculated) , 16.239 ± 0.118 km , 16.82 ± 0.29 km

Synodic rotation period

7.248 ± 0.001 h , 7.3017 ± 0.0676 h

via Wikipedia infobox