Q136140

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

24 May 1927

Named after

Reginita (discoverer's niece)

Alternative designations

1927 KA · A904 TA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

112.47 yr (41,080 days)

Aphelion

2.6934 AU

Perihelion

1.8017 AU

Semi major axis

2.2475 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.37 yr (1,231 days)

Mean anomaly

245.71 °

Mean motion

0° 17 33 / day

Inclination

4.3446°

Longitude of ascending node

147.14°

Argument of perihelion

151.05°

Dimensions

9.82 ± 2.35 km , 10.193 ± 0.250 km , 10.29 km (taken) , 10.292 km , 11.22 ± 0.35 km

Synodic rotation period

2.928 ± 0.0134 h , 2.94 ± 0.010 h , 2.9458 ± 0.0002 h , 2.946 ± 0.001 h , 2.9463 ± 0.0006 h , 2.9464 ± 0.0005 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

10.193

Orbital period

1230.556905035706

Image

001117-asteroid shape model (1117) Reginita.png

via Wikidata · CC0