Q143220

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

27 July 1955

Named after

Paul Herget , (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

1955 OC · 1955 QO, 1955 RB · 1955 SP 1 , 1962 CC · 1969 QA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Gefion

Observation arc

61.67 yr (22,526 days)

Aphelion

3.2765 AU

Perihelion

2.3002 AU

Semi major axis

2.7883 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.66 yr (1,701 days)

Mean anomaly

78.845 °

Inclination

8.1315°

Longitude of ascending node

240.27°

Argument of perihelion

130.93°

Dimensions

10.929 ± 0.248 km , 23.21 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

3.937 ± 0.001 h , 3.9397 ± 0.0006 h

Geometric albedo

0.195 ± 0.027 , 0.057 (assumed)

via Wikipedia infobox