Q144582

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

L. Kohoutek

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

26 October 1971

Named after

Jan Hus ( early Reformer )

Alternative designations

1971 UY · 1931 TS 3 , 1935 NC · 1953 CG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Koronis

Observation arc

86.72 yr (31,673 d)

Aphelion

2.9646 AU

Perihelion

2.8731 AU

Semi major axis

2.9188 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.99 yr (1,821 d)

Mean anomaly

174.31 °

Mean motion

0° 11 51.36 / day

Inclination

2.4077°

Longitude of ascending node

40.525°

Argument of perihelion

14.250°

Mean diameter

12.446 ± 0.193 km , 12.592 ± 0.123 km

Synodic rotation period

4.7483 ± 0.0008 h

via Wikipedia infobox