Q154643

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

L. Carnera

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

21 September 1901

Pronunciation

/ t ər ˈ dʒ ɛ s t iː /

Named after

Trieste (Italian city)

Alternative designations

1901 GU · 1948 RU 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

115.13 yr (42,051 days)

Aphelion

3.2697 AU

Perihelion

2.7659 AU

Semi major axis

3.0178 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.24 yr (1,915 days)

Mean anomaly

274.22 °

Mean motion

0° 11 16.8 / day

Inclination

13.182°

Longitude of ascending node

233.90°

Argument of perihelion

239.54°

Dimensions

77.252 ± 1.447 km , 77.71 km (taken) , 77.714 km , 79.46 ± 1.5 km ( IRAS :21) , 80.738 ± 1.032 , 85.59 ± 1.03 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

80.738

Orbital period

1915.684921855116

via Wikidata · CC0