Q136891

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

A. Schwassmann

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

17 March 1931

Named after

Bergedorf Spectral Catalogue, ( astronomical catalog )

Alternative designations

1931 FE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Phocaea

Observation arc

85.77 yr (31,328 days)

Aphelion

2.9762 AU

Perihelion

1.7561 AU

Semi major axis

2.3661 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.64 yr (1,329 days)

Mean anomaly

297.62 °

Mean motion

0° 16 14.88 / day

Inclination

23.902°

Longitude of ascending node

1.3517°

Argument of perihelion

131.44°

Dimensions

7.22 km (calculated) , 7.377 ± 0.193 km , 9.27 ± 0.25 km

Synodic rotation period

6.546 ± 0.0170 h , 6.558 h , 6.558 36 ± 0.000 05 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

7.377

Orbital period

1328.290555021968

Image

001192-asteroid shape model (1192) Prisma.png

via Wikidata · CC0