Astronomy Picture of the Day . A Martian Day's End . ... 6.07.1997 . ... Credit Copyright: IMP Team , JPL , NASA Explanation: A Day or "Sol" on Mars is only 40 minutes longer than an Earth day - and Pathfinder's first day on Mars, Sol 1 according to its local calendar, was an eventful one . Still, late in the martian afternoon of Sol 1, the camera on board the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft recorded this panorama of the ancient floodplain Ares Vallis . ... July . ... July 1997 . ... 1997 1998 . ...