Q132878

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

G. Shajn

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

16 August 1925

Named after

Wanda Wasilewska , (Polish–Soviet writer)

Alternative designations

1925 QB · 1937 AF, 1950 QY · 1965 WG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

91.88 yr (33,558 days)

Aphelion

3.6116 AU

Perihelion

2.1853 AU

Semi major axis

2.8984 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.93 yr (1,802 days)

Mean anomaly

224.08 °

Mean motion

0° 11 58.92 / day

Inclination

3.5319°

Longitude of ascending node

257.95°

Argument of perihelion

114.20°

Dimensions

40.41 km (derived) , 40.47 ± 2.1 km , 42.72 ± 15.73 km , 42.809 ± 0.834 km , 44.39 ± 0.88 km , 44.657 ± 0.510 km , 48.85 ± 6.58 km

Synodic rotation period

24 h , 28.49 ± 0.03 h , 28.8 h

via Wikipedia infobox