Q152488

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

16 March 1895

Pronunciation

/ ɒ ˈ t ɪ l i ə /

Named after

Ottilia

Alternative designations

1895 BT

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Cybele )

Observation arc

121.08 yr (44225 d)

Aphelion

3.45079 AU (516.231 Gm )

Perihelion

3.24397 AU (485.291 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.34738 AU (500.761 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

6.12 yr (2234.4 d )

Mean anomaly

172.933 °

Mean motion

0° 9 40.032 / day

Inclination

5.9715°

Longitude of ascending node

36.138°

Argument of perihelion

294.690°

Dimensions

87.803 km

Synodic rotation period

6.049 h (0.2520 d )

via Wikipedia infobox