Q146590

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. U. Cesco , A. R. Klemola

Discovery site

El Leoncito , (Yale–Columbia Southern Station) Félix Aguilar Obs.

Discovery date

6 May 1967

Named after

Charles Darwin , George Darwin

Alternative designations

1967 JL · 1954 UG, 1971 SU 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

62.44 yr (22,807 days)

Aphelion

2.7157 AU

Perihelion

1.7829 AU

Semi major axis

2.2493 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.37 yr (1,232 days)

Mean anomaly

278.54 °

Mean motion

0° 17 31.92 / day

Inclination

5.9148°

Longitude of ascending node

328.45°

Argument of perihelion

345.52°

Dimensions

4.989 ± 0.371 km , 5.02 km (taken) , 5.024 km , 5.84 ± 1.26 km , 6.32 ± 1.28 km

Synodic rotation period

4.7 ± 0.2 h

via Wikipedia infobox