Q149702

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. H. F. Peters

Discovery date

31 October 1886

Pronunciation

/ ˈ p r ɪ m n oʊ /

Named after

Prymno

Alternative designations

A886 UA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Adjectives

Prymnoian / p r ɪ m ˈ n oʊ . i ə n /

Observation arc

98.79 yr (36082 d)

Aphelion

2.54054 AU (380.059 Gm )

Perihelion

2.12336 AU (317.650 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.33195 AU (348.855 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.56 yr (1300.7 d )

Average orbital speed

19.51 km/s

Mean anomaly

35.7611 °

Mean motion

0° 16 36.386 / day

Inclination

3.63567°

Longitude of ascending node

96.6415°

Argument of perihelion

65.9065°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

50.011

Orbital period

1299.934027696986

via Wikidata · CC0