Q156633

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

J. Helffrich

Discovery site

Heidelberg Observatory

Discovery date

12 July 1910

Pronunciation

/ ɒr ˈ r aɪ ə l ə /

Named after

oriole

Alternative designations

A910 ND; 1946 KB; 1950 BN1; 1958 TC1; A899 LD; A906 TB

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

113.68 yr (41522 d)

Aphelion

3.1248 AU (467.46 Gm )

Perihelion

2.9117 AU (435.58 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.0183 AU (451.53 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.24 yr (1915.3 d )

Mean anomaly

75.376 °

Mean motion

0° 11 16.656 / day

Inclination

7.134°

Longitude of ascending node

243.703°

Argument of perihelion

328.166°

Dimensions

42.9 km

via Wikipedia infobox