Q136867

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

30 September 1930

Pronunciation

/ ɡ ɒ θ ˈ l æ n d i ə /

Named after

Catalonia , ( Spanish autonomous community )

Alternative designations

1930 SB · 2016 FU 5 , A917 SK

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

86.62 yr (31,639 days)

Aphelion

2.5856 AU

Perihelion

1.7948 AU

Semi major axis

2.1902 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.24 yr (1,184 days)

Mean anomaly

294.72 °

Mean motion

0° 18 14.76 / day

Inclination

4.8169°

Longitude of ascending node

5.4502°

Argument of perihelion

7.1662°

Dimensions

11.19 ± 2.21 km , 12.11 ± 0.76 km , 12.40 ± 0.6 km , 12.42 ± 0.6 km , 12.46 km (derived) , 12.670 ± 0.136 km , 14.255 ± 0.040 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

12.67

Orbital period

1184.009520683923

Image

1188Gothlandia (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0