Q151235

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

Max Wolf

Discovery date

21 March 1892

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s v eɪ ə /

Named after

Sweden

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

124.07 yr (45316 d)

Aphelion

2.54003 AU (379.983 Gm )

Perihelion

2.41427 AU (361.170 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.47715 AU (370.576 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.90 yr (1424.1 d )

Mean anomaly

283.525 °

Mean motion

0° 15 10.076 / day

Inclination

15.8826°

Longitude of ascending node

178.489°

Argument of perihelion

54.9542°

Dimensions

77.80 ± 1.4 km

Synodic rotation period

22.778 h (0.9491 d ) , 22.6 ± 0.01 hours

Geometric albedo

0.0399 ± 0.001

via Wikipedia infobox