Q148447

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

G. van Biesbroeck

Discovery site

Yerkes Obs.

Discovery date

30 July 1932

Named after

Espinette, (discoverer's residence)

Alternative designations

1932 PB · 1939 RJ, 1953 VB 1 · 1970 PM, 1977 TG

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser

Observation arc

84.74 yr (30,953 days)

Aphelion

2.9195 AU

Perihelion

1.6477 AU

Semi major axis

2.2836 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.45 yr (1,260 days)

Mean anomaly

228.40 °

Mean motion

0° 17 8.16 / day

Inclination

3.8804°

Longitude of ascending node

143.96°

Argument of perihelion

175.75°

Dimensions

7.03 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

7.3 ± 0.2 h , 7.440 ± 0.002 h , 7.442 ± 0.001 , 7.442 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

5.469

Orbital period

1260.541896225684

via Wikidata · CC0