Q149960

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

E. Bowell

Discovery site

Anderson Mesa Stn.

Discovery date

3 May 1981

Pronunciation

/ m ə ˈ z ɜːr s k i /

Named after

Harold Masursky , (American planetary geologist )

Alternative designations

1981 JN · 1950 VO, 1973 QF · 1975 XJ 5 , 1977 KU

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Eunomia

Observation arc

44.58 yr (16,282 d)

Aphelion

2.8522 AU

Perihelion

2.2874 AU

Semi major axis

2.5698 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.12 yr (1,505 d)

Mean anomaly

54.965 °

Mean motion

0° 14 21.48 / day

Inclination

12.129°

Longitude of ascending node

215.36°

Argument of perihelion

288.47°

Mean diameter

10.744 ± 0.170 km

via Wikipedia infobox