Q156714

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

F. Kaiser

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

26 August 1911

Pronunciation

/ v ɪ z ɪ ˈ b eɪ d ə /

Named after

Wiesbaden , (German city)

Alternative designations

A911 QK · 1911 MJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

108.68 yr (39,695 d)

Aphelion

3.9650 AU

Perihelion

2.3124 AU

Semi major axis

3.1387 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.56 yr (2,031 d)

Mean anomaly

150.82 °

Mean motion

0° 10 37.92 / day

Inclination

1.6463°

Longitude of ascending node

343.55°

Argument of perihelion

24.403°

Mean diameter

27.294 ± 0.444 km 31.04 ± 4.7 km 32.52 ± 0.37 km

via Wikipedia infobox