Q152248

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

F. Courty

Discovery date

11 February 1894

Pronunciation

/ b ər ˈ d ɪ ɡ ə l ə /

Named after

Bordeaux

Alternative designations

1894 AV

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

116.91 yr (42702 d)

Aphelion

3.04508 AU (455.537 Gm )

Perihelion

2.25578 AU (337.460 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.65043 AU (396.499 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.32 yr (1576.1 d )

Mean anomaly

173.217 °

Mean motion

0° 13 42.305 / day

Inclination

5.59096°

Longitude of ascending node

47.8387°

Argument of perihelion

35.0366°

Dimensions

36.93 ± 2.4 km

Synodic rotation period

21.1 h (0.88 d )

via Wikipedia infobox