Q11530

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

13 September 1923

Named after

Lilofee , ( mermaid in German folklore )

Alternative designations

1923 OK · 1937 FB, 1940 TA · 1951 QO, 1951 RA 2 · 1957 WD 2 , 1962 QH · A915 HB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis

Observation arc

93.81 yr (34,263 days)

Aphelion

3.6414 AU

Perihelion

2.6373 AU

Semi major axis

3.1394 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.56 yr (2,032 days)

Mean anomaly

211.31 °

Mean motion

0° 10 37.92 / day

Inclination

1.8402°

Longitude of ascending node

139.45°

Argument of perihelion

317.42°

Dimensions

27.29 ± 1.83 km , 32.292 ± 0.334 km , 33.1 ± 3.3 km , 33.678 ± 0.334 km , 34.04 km (calculated) , 36 ± 4 km

Synodic rotation period

8.230 ± 0.004 h , 8.249 91 ± 0.000 05 h , 8.250 ± 0.001 h , 8.2506 ± 0.0003 h , 8.255 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

33.678

Orbital period

2033.650548894866

via Wikidata · CC0