Q135947

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

J. Comas Solà

Discovery site

Fabra Obs.

Discovery date

5 November 1928

Named after

Josep Comas i Solà , (discoverer himself)

Alternative designations

1928 VA · 1960 WQ, A899 KB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

86.24 yr (31,499 days)

Aphelion

3.4119 AU

Perihelion

2.7311 AU

Semi major axis

3.0715 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.38 yr (1,966 days)

Mean anomaly

267.80 °

Mean motion

0° 10 59.16 / day

Inclination

15.828°

Longitude of ascending node

216.59°

Argument of perihelion

116.55°

Mean diameter

30.88 ± 1.59 km , 36.632 ± 0.378 km , 39.27 ± 2.1 km , 41.02 ± 0.74 km , 41.733 ± 0.308 km

Synodic rotation period

5.1 ± 0.1 h , 5.1040 ± 0.0003 h , 5.105 32 ± 0.000 05 h , 5.1054 ± 0.0002 h

via Wikipedia infobox