Q155062

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

R. S. Dugan

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

22 September 1903

Named after

Edith Eveleth, (discoverer's sister)

Alternative designations

1903 MH · 1953 VS, A905 BB · A909 XA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

113.69 yr (41,525 days)

Aphelion

3.7279 AU

Perihelion

2.5889 AU

Semi major axis

3.1584 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.61 yr (2,050 days)

Mean anomaly

114.65 °

Mean motion

0° 10 32.16 / day

Inclination

3.1934°

Longitude of ascending node

274.40°

Argument of perihelion

140.13°

Dimensions

79.72 ± 26.64 km , 80.11 ± 20.71 km , 83.24 km (derived) , 83.35 ± 1.27 km , 91.12 ± 2.1 km , 111.890 ± 0.587 km , 111.89 ± 0.59 km

Synodic rotation period

4.328 ± 0.001 h , 9.25 ± 0.04 h , 9.274 ± 0.001 h , 9.2747 ± 0.0003 h , 9.41 ± 0.07 h

via Wikipedia infobox