Q144055

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. Antal

Discovery site

Skalnaté Pleso Obs.

Discovery date

20 August 1971

Named after

Slovakia (country)

Alternative designations

1971 QA · 1928 UE, 1948 UC · 1951 JA, 1951 QK · 1954 NA, 1960 GB · 1971 TM 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

87.74 yr (32,046 days)

Aphelion

2.6229 AU

Perihelion

1.8289 AU

Semi major axis

2.2259 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.32 yr (1,213 days)

Mean anomaly

283.80 °

Mean motion

0° 17 48.48 / day

Inclination

3.4919°

Longitude of ascending node

236.35°

Argument of perihelion

140.53°

Dimensions

9.135 ± 0.092 km , 9.146 ± 0.059 km , 9.40 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

24 h (dated) , 308.0 ± 0.3 h , 308.6 h

via Wikipedia infobox