Q144715

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

C. H. F. Peters , 1878

Discovery date

1 March 1878

Pronunciation

/ j uː ˈ n aɪ k iː /

Named after

Εὐνίκη Eynīkē

Alternative designations

A878 EA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Eunikean / j uː n ɪ ˈ k iː ə n /

Observation arc

131.77 yr (48128 d)

Aphelion

3.0924 AU (462.62 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3843 AU (356.69 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7383 AU (409.64 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.53 yr (1655.1 d )

Mean anomaly

327.48 °

Mean motion

0° 13 3.036 / day

Inclination

23.238°

Longitude of ascending node

153.84°

Argument of perihelion

224.01°

Earth moid

1.41759 AU (212.068 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox