Q153327

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

Walther Villiger

Discovery date

18 November 1897

Pronunciation

/ m ɒ ˈ n eɪ k i ə /

Named after

Munich

Alternative designations

1897 DK; 1946 UL;, 1949 OE; 1953 TN3;, 1974 XU

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Flora family )

Observation arc

117.50 yr (42917 d)

Aphelion

2.72087 AU (407.036 Gm )

Perihelion

1.89497 AU (283.483 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.30792 AU (345.260 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.51 yr (1280.6 d )

Mean anomaly

327.639 °

Mean motion

0° 16 51.989 / day

Inclination

6.19903°

Longitude of ascending node

17.6267°

Argument of perihelion

15.4466°

Dimensions

17.65 ± 1.3 km , 18 km

Synodic rotation period

3.6342 ± 0.0002 h (0.1514250 ± 8.3 × 10 d )

via Wikipedia infobox