Q753736

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

14 September 1955

Named after

Yusuke Hagihara , (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1955 RD 1 · 1971 TZ 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

59.65 yr (21,787 days)

Aphelion

3.2479 AU

Perihelion

2.7370 AU

Semi major axis

2.9924 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.18 yr (1,891 days)

Mean anomaly

294.31 °

Mean motion

0° 11 25.44 / day

Inclination

8.6990°

Longitude of ascending node

300.12°

Argument of perihelion

120.50°

Dimensions

12.289 ± 0.156 , 15 ± 7 km (converted)

Geometric albedo

0.135 ± 0.028

via Wikipedia infobox