Q152790

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

7 February 1896

Pronunciation

/ p ə ˈ l eɪ ʃ ə / pə- LAY -shə

Named after

Electorate of the Palatinate

Alternative designations

1896 CO

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

116.21 yr (42447 d)

Aphelion

3.6320 AU (543.34 Gm )

Perihelion

1.95333 AU (292.214 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7927 AU (417.78 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.67 yr (1704.6 d )

Mean anomaly

354.775 °

Mean motion

0° 12 40.284 / day

Inclination

8.1710°

Longitude of ascending node

126.975°

Argument of perihelion

297.137°

Dimensions

76.34 ± 4.6 km

Synodic rotation period

20.73 h (0.864 d )

via Wikipedia infobox