Q119282

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

J. F. Hartmann

Discovery site

La Plata Obs.

Discovery date

28 April 1924

Named after

La Plata (city in Argentina , and discovering observatory)

Alternative designations

1924 RK · 1938 DR 2 , 1969 OU · A916 UL, A916 UR

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Koronis

Observation arc

100.68 yr (36,772 d)

Aphelion

2.9715 AU

Perihelion

2.8083 AU

Semi major axis

2.8899 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.91 yr (1,794 d)

Mean anomaly

87.729 °

Mean motion

0° 12 2.16 / day

Inclination

2.4254°

Longitude of ascending node

29.903°

Argument of perihelion

142.56°

Mean diameter

16.46 ± 1.07 km , 19.32 ± 2.72 km , 20.71 km (derived) , 20.78 ± 1.9 km

Synodic rotation period

14 h , 14.174 ± 0.003 h , 15.310 ± 0.003 h , 15.37 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.78

Orbital period

1797.347271823988

Image

001029-asteroid shape model (1029) La Plata.png

via Wikidata · CC0