Q151927

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

A. Charlois

Discovery site

Nice Obs.

Discovery date

19 March 1893

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɪ s ə r ə /

Named after

Isère River , ( river in France)

Alternative designations

1893 T · 1976 AB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

117.10 yr (42,772 days)

Aphelion

2.5532 AU

Perihelion

1.8881 AU

Semi major axis

2.2206 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.31 yr (1,209 days)

Mean anomaly

322.26 °

Mean motion

0° 17 52.08 / day

Inclination

6.0033°

Longitude of ascending node

105.54°

Argument of perihelion

312.78°

Dimensions

25.901 ± 0.665 km , 27.99 ± 1.0 km , 28.78 ± 0.30 km , 35.209 ± 0.253 km

via Wikipedia infobox