Q978913

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. Bowell

Discovery site

Anderson Mesa Stn.

Discovery date

28 March 1982

Named after

Richard Binzel , (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

1982 FR · 1935 KH, 1935 MH · 1938 GA, 1959 RA 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

81.27 yr (29,683 days)

Aphelion

2.6074 AU

Perihelion

1.8954 AU

Semi major axis

2.2514 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.38 yr (1,234 days)

Mean anomaly

112.97 °

Mean motion

0° 17 30.48 / day

Inclination

5.9003°

Longitude of ascending node

100.97°

Argument of perihelion

168.33°

Dimensions

6.426 ± 0.471 km , 6.48 km (calculated) , 7.011 ± 0.063 km

Synodic rotation period

11.560 ± 0.0037 h

via Wikipedia infobox