Q146822

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

Purple Mountain Obs.

Discovery site

Purple Mountain Obs.

Discovery date

9 October 1964

Named after

Guo Shoujing , (Chinese astronomer)

Alternative designations

1964 TE 2 · 1971 SF 1 , 1974 MS

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora · Interloper

Observation arc

63.80 yr (23,303 days)

Aphelion

2.7436 AU

Perihelion

1.9137 AU

Semi major axis

2.3286 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.55 yr (1,298 days)

Mean anomaly

6.7252 °

Mean motion

0° 16 38.64 / day

Inclination

2.9066°

Longitude of ascending node

277.11°

Argument of perihelion

36.696°

Dimensions

5.67 km (calculated) , 11.65 ± 0.26 km , 11.931 ± 0.080 km , 12.248 ± 0.035 km , 12.82 ± 3.11 km , 14.46 ± 4.71 km , 14.70 ± 4.42 km

Synodic rotation period

12 h

via Wikipedia infobox