Q11544

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

12 November 1923

Named after

Marlene Dietrich , (German actress and singer)

Alternative designations

1923 PF · 1937 NB 1 , 1950 CJ · 1950 EY, A903 UD · A908 VA, 1923 PF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

113.61 yr (41,495 days)

Aphelion

3.2329 AU

Perihelion

2.6278 AU

Semi major axis

2.9303 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.02 yr (1,832 days)

Mean anomaly

265.92 °

Mean motion

0° 11 47.4 / day

Inclination

3.9070°

Longitude of ascending node

98.747°

Argument of perihelion

279.74°

Dimensions

43.38 km (derived) , 43.47 ± 1.1 km , 46.37 ± 0.51 km , 46.876 ± 0.165 km , 47.07 ± 0.75 km , 49.74 ± 17.50 km , 51.085 ± 0.156 km

Synodic rotation period

29.0 ± 0.4 h , 31.06 ± 0.02 h , 31.0651 ± 0.0005 h , 31.066 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

46.876

Orbital period

1830.665390027224

Image

001010-asteroid shape model (1010) Marlene.png

via Wikidata · CC0