Q132879

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

22 June 1925

Named after

Howard Grubb , (Irish telescope maker)

Alternative designations

1925 MA · 1932 WO, 1955 YH · A906 VG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora · Augusta

Observation arc

111.28 yr (40,646 d)

Aphelion

2.6082 AU

Perihelion

1.7842 AU

Semi major axis

2.1962 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.25 yr (1,189 d)

Mean anomaly

149.50 °

Mean motion

0° 18 10.08 / day

Inclination

3.6932°

Longitude of ascending node

221.75°

Argument of perihelion

94.490°

Mean diameter

10.920 ± 0.057 km , 11.910 ± 0.270 km , 13.03 ± 0.28 km , 14.64 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

>12 h , >18 h , >20 h , 46.30 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

10.92

Orbital period

1188.545164548651

Image

001058-asteroid shape model (1058) Grubba.png

via Wikidata · CC0