Q135786

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

O. Oikawa

Discovery site

Tokyo Astronomical Obs.

Discovery date

17 November 1927

Named after

Mitaka (Japanese village)

Alternative designations

1927 WA · 1942 FR, 1953 VW 3 · 1971 BE, A917 RA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

88.22 yr (32,224 days)

Aphelion

2.6328 AU

Perihelion

1.7722 AU

Semi major axis

2.2025 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.27 yr (1,194 days)

Mean anomaly

200.92 °

Mean motion

0° 18 5.4 / day

Inclination

7.6514°

Longitude of ascending node

54.495°

Argument of perihelion

319.50°

Mean diameter

11.33 ± 2.51 km , 13.35 ± 0.75 km , 15.137 ± 0.131 km , 15.957 ± 0.030 km , 16.016 km , 16.02 km (taken)

Synodic rotation period

3.027 ± 0.003 h , 3.0353 ± 0.0005 h , 3.035 377 h , 3.035 378 ± 0.000 005 h , 3.0354 ± 0.0002 h , 3.0361 ± 0.0007 h , 3.049 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox