Q146229

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

J. B. Gibson

Discovery site

El Leoncito Complex

Discovery date

13 March 1973

Pronunciation

/ ˈ æ n t ə r ɒ s /

Named after

Anteros (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1973 EC

Minor planet category

Amor · NEO

Observation arc

44.02 yr (16,080 days)

Aphelion

1.7968 AU

Perihelion

1.0642 AU

Semi major axis

1.4305 AU

Orbital period sidereal

1.71 yr (625 days)

Mean anomaly

332.17 °

Inclination

8.7061°

Longitude of ascending node

246.33°

Argument of perihelion

338.37°

Earth moid

0.0630 AU · 24.5 LD

Dimensions

2.01 km (derived) , 2.38 ± 0.72 km , 2.39 km , 2.43 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

2.3

Orbital period

624.9459203582282

via Wikidata · CC0