Q136833

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

3 March 1927

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1927 EA · A915 RD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

90.33 yr (32,993 days)

Aphelion

2.5261 AU

Perihelion

1.9930 AU

Semi major axis

2.2596 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.40 yr (1,241 days)

Mean anomaly

328.01 °

Mean motion

0° 17 24.72 / day

Inclination

9.3881°

Longitude of ascending node

336.38°

Argument of perihelion

63.035°

Dimensions

12.67 ± 2.95 km , 13.29 ± 2.48 km , 13.448 ± 0.074 km , 14.09 km (derived) , 14.162 ± 0.257 , 14.26 ± 0.8 km , 17.88 ± 0.62 km

Synodic rotation period

14.938 ± 0.005 h , 29.8 ± 0.1 h , 29.853 ± 0.0627 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

14.162

Orbital period

1240.265892428922

Image

001182-asteroid shape model (1182) Ilona.png

via Wikidata · CC0