Q135824

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

12 January 1924

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l ɪ l i ə m /

Named after

Līlium ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1924 PN · 1929 BE, 1936 QE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

110.67 yr (40,421 days)

Aphelion

3.1444 AU

Perihelion

2.6552 AU

Semi major axis

2.8998 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.94 yr (1,804 days)

Mean anomaly

200.62 °

Mean motion

0° 11 58.56 / day

Inclination

5.3885°

Longitude of ascending node

307.49°

Argument of perihelion

316.51°

Dimensions

37.78 ± 12.75 km , 40.276 ± 0.243 km , 42.853 ± 0.266 km , 43.23 ± 0.33 km , 46.17 ± 1.5 km , 49.56 ± 13.84 km , 52.79 ± 0.87 km

via Wikipedia infobox