Q150730

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

16 February 1891

Pronunciation

/ ɡ ɔːr ˈ d oʊ n i ə /

Alternative designations

A891 DA; 1938 SC 1 , 1970 SP 1

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

123.90 yr (45255 d)

Aphelion

3.69187 AU (552.296 Gm )

Perihelion

2.49627 AU (373.437 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.09407 AU (462.866 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.44 yr (1987.9 d )

Mean anomaly

43.0648 °

Mean motion

0° 10 51.946 / day

Inclination

4.44401°

Longitude of ascending node

207.494°

Argument of perihelion

261.346°

Dimensions

49.17 ± 1.5 km

Synodic rotation period

12.893 h (0.5372 d ) , 12.89 ± 0.01 hours

Geometric albedo

0.2269 ± 0.014

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

47.739

Orbital period

1980.685535807025

Image

305 Gordonia Orbit Diagram.png

via Wikidata · CC0