Q147055

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

Tripaxeptalis (fantasy name) , (3 × 679 Pax = 7 × 291 Alice )

Alternative designations

1973 UB · A917 SN

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

43.52 yr (15,894 days)

Aphelion

2.6046 AU

Perihelion

1.9996 AU

Semi major axis

2.3021 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.49 yr (1,276 days)

Mean anomaly

235.93 °

Mean motion

0° 16 55.92 / day

Inclination

4.2509°

Longitude of ascending node

9.5018°

Argument of perihelion

346.18°

Dimensions

5.956 ± 0.213 km , 6.21 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

2.33 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox