Q529172

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

E. F. Helin , S. J. Bus

Discovery site

Palomar Obs.

Discovery date

7 November 1978

Pronunciation

/ ɛ dj uː ˈ k eɪ ʃ i oʊ /

Named after

Education ( ēducātio )

Alternative designations

1978 VQ 4 · 1928 QH, 1954 JK · 1968 US 1 , 1977 JG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

89.43 yr (32,665 d)

Aphelion

2.5763 AU

Perihelion

1.8554 AU

Semi major axis

2.2158 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.30 yr (1,205 d)

Mean anomaly

77.238 °

Mean motion

0° 17 55.68 / day

Inclination

4.1060°

Longitude of ascending node

227.20°

Argument of perihelion

77.865°

Mean diameter

6.586 ± 0.128 km

via Wikipedia infobox