Q132917

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

1 September 1926

Pronunciation

/ ˈ tj uː n ɪ k ə /

Named after

Petrorhagia , ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1926 RB · A903 SA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background · Ursula

Observation arc

114.03 yr (41,649 days)

Aphelion

3.4882 AU

Perihelion

2.9764 AU

Semi major axis

3.2323 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.81 yr (2,123 days)

Mean anomaly

259.51 °

Mean motion

0° 10 10.56 / day

Inclination

16.963°

Longitude of ascending node

165.32°

Argument of perihelion

189.81°

Dimensions

33.77 ± 8.89 km , 33.79 km (calculated) , 36.68 ± 0.86 km , 39.10 ± 0.64 km , 39.131 ± 0.423 km , 44.135 ± 1.028 km

via Wikipedia infobox