Q152589

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

23 July 1895

Pronunciation

/ ˈ θ aɪ ə /

Named after

Theia

Alternative designations

1895 BZ

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

123.54 years

Aphelion

3.2145 AU (480.88 Gm )

Perihelion

1.9592 AU (293.09 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.5861 AU (386.88 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.16 yr (1518.3 d )

Mean anomaly

336.81 °

Mean motion

0° 14 13.164 / day

Inclination

11.937°

Longitude of ascending node

255.19°

Time of perihelion

2 June 2023

Argument of perihelion

308.65°

Earth moid

0.975 AU (145.9 million km; 379 LD)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

108.894

Orbital period

1517.391546196249

via Wikidata · CC0