Q142901

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

12 October 1964

Named after

Dr Goethe Link, (observatory's founder)

Alternative designations

1964 TO · 1943 OA, 1952 WH · 1955 KE, 1956 VD · 1964 UB, 1967 JD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

73.78 yr (26,948 days)

Aphelion

2.7923 AU

Perihelion

2.3346 AU

Semi major axis

2.5634 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.10 yr (1,499 days)

Mean anomaly

22.348 °

Mean motion

0° 14 24.36 / day

Inclination

7.1866°

Longitude of ascending node

240.52°

Argument of perihelion

66.733°

Dimensions

14.58 ± 0.33 km , 15.60 km (calculated) , 18.18 ± 1.09 km

Synodic rotation period

81 ± 2 h

via Wikipedia infobox