Q157147

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

9 March 1915

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɡ juː d ə l ə /

Alternative designations

1915 WO

Observation arc

109.04 yr (39828 d)

Aphelion

2.5974 AU (388.57 Gm )

Perihelion

2.4883 AU (372.24 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.5428 AU (380.40 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.05 yr (1481.0 d )

Mean anomaly

132.296 °

Mean motion

0° 14 35.052 / day

Inclination

5.2827°

Longitude of ascending node

164.879°

Argument of perihelion

238.013°

Mean radius

21.815 ± 1.25 km

Synodic rotation period

14.814 h (0.6173 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0704 ± 0.009

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

47.185

Orbital period

1480.327393702682

via Wikidata · CC0