Q149598

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

R. Luther

Discovery site

Düsseldorf-Bilk Obs.

Discovery date

4 May 1886

Pronunciation

/ ˈ t aɪ k iː /

Named after

Tyche

Alternative designations

A886 JA

Minor planet category

Eunomia · main-belt

Observation arc

129.95 yr (47465 d)

Aphelion

3.1512 AU (471.41 Gm )

Perihelion

2.0838 AU (311.73 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.6175 AU (391.57 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.23 yr (1546.8 d )

Average orbital speed

18.42 km/s

Mean anomaly

157.95 °

Mean motion

0° 13 57.864 / day

Inclination

14.305°

Longitude of ascending node

207.59°

Argument of perihelion

155.01°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

64.78

Orbital period

1544.111940890564

Image

258Tyche (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0