Q1048183

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

29 January 1932

Named after

Cordie Robinson

Alternative designations

1932 BG · 1936 KF, 1976 GS 6 · 1982 BG 2

Minor planet category

main-belt

Observation arc

84.57 yr (30,890 days)

Aphelion

2.5826 AU

Perihelion

1.8949 AU

Semi major axis

2.2388 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.35 yr (1,224 days)

Mean anomaly

84.621 °

Mean motion

0° 17 39.12 / day

Inclination

6.8175°

Longitude of ascending node

116.39°

Argument of perihelion

154.85°

Dimensions

6.657 ± 0.183 km

Synodic rotation period

80.0 h (3.33 d )

via Wikipedia infobox