Q136204

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

6 October 1928

Named after

Paul Stroobant, (Belgian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1928 TB · 1926 FC, 1930 BK · 1951 DJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

86.39 yr (31,554 days)

Aphelion

3.0157 AU

Perihelion

2.8384 AU

Semi major axis

2.9271 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.01 yr (1,829 days)

Mean anomaly

309.88 °

Mean motion

0° 11 48.48 / day

Inclination

7.7935°

Longitude of ascending node

22.248°

Argument of perihelion

264.49°

Dimensions

24.450 ± 0.140 km , 24.65 ± 1.1 km ( IRAS :9) , 25.823 ± 0.121 km , 27.03 ± 0.70 km , 29.68 ± 0.57 km

Synodic rotation period

16.39 h , 17.0 ± 0.2 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

24.45

Orbital period

1829.482981536822

via Wikidata · CC0