Q132919

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

V. Albitzkij

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

3 March 1924

Named after

Great Britain , (part of British Isles )

Alternative designations

1924 RE · 1927 YB, 1947 BE · 1948 HB, 1948 JG · 1952 FJ, A910 EB · A917 SP

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

107.06 yr (39,102 days)

Aphelion

3.1065 AU

Perihelion

2.4954 AU

Semi major axis

2.8009 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.69 yr (1,712 days)

Mean anomaly

60.276 °

Mean motion

0° 12 37.08 / day

Inclination

5.3715°

Longitude of ascending node

52.571°

Argument of perihelion

27.137°

Dimensions

39.45 ± 8.81 km , 40.266 ± 12.91 km , 50.14 km (derived) , 50.29 ± 1.4 km , 60.862 ± 0.536 km , 62.53 ± 0.65 km , 64.23 ± 19.39 km

Synodic rotation period

5.8 h (poor) , 5.805 ± 0.002 h , 5.8158 ± 0.0003 h , 5.8169 ± 0.0003 h

via Wikipedia infobox