Q146388

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

P. Wild

Discovery site

Zimmerwald Obs.

Discovery date

25 October 1973

Named after

Henri Guisan (General)

Alternative designations

1973 UA · 1961 VC 1 , 1969 UR 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

61.49 yr (22,461 days)

Aphelion

2.8352 AU

Perihelion

2.2185 AU

Semi major axis

2.5268 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.02 yr (1,467 days)

Mean anomaly

74.212 °

Mean motion

0° 14 43.44 / day

Inclination

8.4737°

Longitude of ascending node

22.213°

Argument of perihelion

263.99°

Dimensions

24.55 ± 1.2 km ( IRAS :5) , 24.65 ± 0.28 km , 27.004 ± 0.176 km , 27.23 ± 0.57 km , 28.411 ± 0.105 km

Synodic rotation period

8.46 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

27.004

Orbital period

1466.33069519982

via Wikidata · CC0