Q125562

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

Ernest Johnson

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

10 April 1950

Named after

Sandra (discoverer's granddaughter)

Alternative designations

1950 GB · 1934 NP, 1935 QH · 1950 HF, 1950 JM · 1951 OK, 1967 JC · 1968 OC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

81.66 yr (29,826 days)

Aphelion

3.5564 AU

Perihelion

2.7418 AU

Semi major axis

3.1491 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.59 yr (2,041 days)

Mean anomaly

6.2435 °

Mean motion

0° 10 35.04 / day

Inclination

8.4403°

Longitude of ascending node

232.61°

Argument of perihelion

332.93°

Dimensions

33.989 ± 0.214 km , 34.765 ± 0.454 km , 35.89 ± 3.5 km , 36.03 km (derived) , 36.64 ± 1.03 km , 37.71 ± 0.64 km

Synodic rotation period

6.5668 ± 0.0004 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q143362

Follows

Q143310

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

34.765

Orbital period

2038.012712767933

via Wikidata · CC0