Q135927

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

22 September 1928

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɑːr n ɪ k ə /

Named after

Arnica ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1928 SD · 1950 BU, 1976 MK · 1979 HE, A904 XA · A918 RD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Koronis

Observation arc

99.19 yr (36,230 days)

Aphelion

3.0985 AU

Perihelion

2.6991 AU

Semi major axis

2.8988 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.94 yr (1,803 days)

Mean anomaly

47.143 °

Mean motion

0° 11 58.92 / day

Inclination

1.0342°

Longitude of ascending node

304.12°

Argument of perihelion

24.241°

Dimensions

16.894 ± 0.243 km , 17.234 ± 0.122 km , 17.92 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox