200 Dynamene

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

C. H. F. Peters , 1879

Discovery date

27 July 1879

Pronunciation

/ d aɪ ˈ n æ m ɪ n iː /

Alternative designations

A879 OA; 1904 CA;, 1955 HZ; 1961 TO 1 ;, 1974 HE 1

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

136.47 yr (49845 d)

Aphelion

3.1020 AU (464.05 Gm )

Perihelion

2.3728 AU (354.97 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.7374 AU (409.51 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.53 yr (1654.3 d )

Mean anomaly

10.506 °

Mean motion

0° 13 3.432 / day

Inclination

6.8957°

Longitude of ascending node

324.57°

Argument of perihelion

85.089°

Earth moid

1.39358 AU (208.477 Gm)

Jupiter moid

2.2934 AU (343.09 Gm)

Dimensions

128.36 ± 2.1 km , 130.71 ± 3.01 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

128.301

Orbital period

1654.834347491248

via Wikidata · CC0