Q468818

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. C. Watson

Discovery site

Ann Arbor Obs.

Discovery date

11 November 1877

Pronunciation

/ k l ɪ t ɪ m ˈ n ɛ s t r ə /

Named after

Clytemnestra , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

A877 VC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Telramund

Observation arc

119.12 yr (43,507 d)

Aphelion

3.3085 AU

Perihelion

2.6356 AU

Semi major axis

2.9720 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.12 yr (1,871 d)

Mean anomaly

194.50 °

Mean motion

0° 11 32.64 / day

Inclination

7.8163°

Longitude of ascending node

251.91°

Argument of perihelion

103.64°

Mean diameter

64.25 ± 0.79 km , 69.946 ± 0.518 km , 72.786 ± 0.799 km , 75.02 ± 3.21 km , 77.69 ± 1.4 km , 90.17 ± 1.53 km

via Wikipedia infobox