Q136581

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 February 1928

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1928 DA · 1935 FY, 1938 DA · 1953 RC 1 , 1955 FW 1 · 1973 QC 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

88.76 yr (32,418 days)

Aphelion

2.3414 AU

Perihelion

2.1329 AU

Semi major axis

2.2372 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.35 yr (1,222 days)

Mean anomaly

326.67 °

Mean motion

0° 17 40.2 / day

Inclination

1.3976°

Longitude of ascending node

91.131°

Argument of perihelion

353.76°

Dimensions

6.83 ± 0.21 km , 6.831 ± 0.211 km , 8.79 ± 1.97 km , 8.856 ± 0.105 km , 9.00 ± 2.24 km , 10.30 km (calculated) , 10.83 ± 0.76 km

Synodic rotation period

2.7910 ± 0.0005 h , 2.791 03 ± 0.000 04 h , 2.791 05 ± 0.000 03 h , 2.791 13 ± 0.000 04 h

via Wikipedia infobox