Q121577

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

22 March 1925

Named after

Asta Nielsen , (Danish actress)

Alternative designations

1925 FA · 1938 SJ 1 , 1949 UQ · 1949 UX, 1951 CQ 1 · 1956 AT, A906 VA · A917 YB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

110.65 yr (40,416 days)

Aphelion

3.5142 AU

Perihelion

2.6335 AU

Semi major axis

3.0738 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.39 yr (1,968 days)

Mean anomaly

203.59 °

Mean motion

0° 10 58.44 / day

Inclination

13.934°

Longitude of ascending node

60.001°

Argument of perihelion

343.95°

Dimensions

43.46 ± 10.89 km , 44.05 ± 11.20 km , 49.43 ± 0.78 km , 57.16 km (derived) , 58.88 ± 0.87 km , 60.571 ± 0.199 km , 61.852 ± 1.162 km

Synodic rotation period

7.554 ± 0.001 h , 7.99 ± 0.02 h

via Wikipedia infobox