Q135746

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

26 January 1928

Pronunciation

/ ˈ s æ l v i ə /

Named after

Salvia ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1928 BC · 1948 VO, A910 AA · A916 WF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

107.49 yr (39,261 days)

Aphelion

2.7548 AU

Perihelion

1.9036 AU

Semi major axis

2.3292 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.55 yr (1,298 days)

Mean anomaly

91.450 °

Mean motion

0° 16 38.28 / day

Inclination

5.1311°

Longitude of ascending node

80.812°

Argument of perihelion

32.665°

Dimensions

8.927 ± 0.131 km , 10.145 ± 0.028 km , 10.28 km (taken) , 10.283 km

via Wikipedia infobox