Q118370

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

25 June 1924

Named after

St. Thomas Choir of Leipzig , (German boys' choir )

Alternative designations

1924 RU · 1936 RG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

92.86 yr (33,916 days)

Aphelion

3.4893 AU

Perihelion

2.8442 AU

Semi major axis

3.1667 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.64 yr (2,058 days)

Mean anomaly

107.00 °

Mean motion

0° 10 29.64 / day

Inclination

10.078°

Longitude of ascending node

194.32°

Argument of perihelion

194.19°

Dimensions

53.28 ± 20.25 km , 58.27 ± 1.6 km ( IRAS :11) , 61.02 ± 1.00 km , 61.34 ± 4.17 km

Synodic rotation period

17.56 ± 0.05 h , 17.56 ± 0.01 h , 17.561 ± 0.007 h , 17.5611 ± 0.0005 h

via Wikipedia infobox