Q152422

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 Observatory

Discovery date

28 December 1894

Pronunciation

/ æ d ˈ m iː t iː /

Named after

Admete (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1894 BN · 1951 LP, 1952 QC 1 · A907 RE

Minor planet category

main-belt · (outer)

Observation arc

120.95 yr (44176 d)

Aphelion

3.3515 AU (501.38 Gm )

Perihelion

2.1269 AU (318.18 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7392 AU (409.78 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.53 yr (1655.9 d )

Mean anomaly

314.19 °

Mean motion

0° 13 2.64 / day

Inclination

9.5259°

Longitude of ascending node

279.98°

Argument of perihelion

159.02°

Earth moid

1.144 AU (171.1 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox