Q136455

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

7 May 1929

Pronunciation

/ b i ˈ ɑːr m i ə /

Named after

Bjarmaland ( Permia ), (territory in Norse sagas)

Alternative designations

1929 JF · 1941 WD 1 , A913 KA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

87.88 yr (32,098 days)

Aphelion

3.8212 AU

Perihelion

2.2678 AU

Semi major axis

3.0445 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.31 yr (1,940 days)

Mean anomaly

184.40 °

Mean motion

0° 11 7.8 / day

Inclination

17.067°

Longitude of ascending node

213.89°

Argument of perihelion

63.801°

Dimensions

21.59 ± 1.52 km , 31.14 ± 1.2 km , 32.39 ± 0.97 km , 32.925 ± 0.148 km , 38.567 ± 0.735 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

32.925

Orbital period

1941.984599204258

Image

1146 Biarmia flat view.png

via Wikidata · CC0