Q143062

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

18 October 1939

Named after

Paavo Nurmi , (Sports Legend)

Alternative designations

1939 UA · 1933 DD, 1951 YO 2 · 1954 NC, 1966 TA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

77.13 yr (28,172 days)

Aphelion

2.9385 AU

Perihelion

1.9947 AU

Semi major axis

2.4666 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.87 yr (1,415 days)

Mean anomaly

43.639 °

Mean motion

0° 15 15.84 / day

Inclination

1.9994°

Longitude of ascending node

296.10°

Argument of perihelion

78.724°

Dimensions

12.762 ± 0.150 km

Geometric albedo

0.046 ± 0.006

via Wikipedia infobox