Q136960

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

13 September 1931

Named after

Marina Lavrova–Berg , (Soviet scientist)

Alternative designations

1931 RL · 1931 TH, 1980 BL 3 · A924 WG, A924 YA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda

Observation arc

92.99 yr (33,964 days)

Aphelion

4.6621 AU

Perihelion

3.3339 AU

Semi major axis

3.9980 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.99 yr (2,920 days)

Mean anomaly

346.16 °

Mean motion

0° 7 23.88 / day

Inclination

3.3338°

Longitude of ascending node

49.880°

Argument of perihelion

307.45°

Jupiter moid

0.7908 AU

Dimensions

54.93 ± 2.6 km , 55.07 km (derived) , 63.76 ± 1.28 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

54.93

Orbital period

2913.998244070414

via Wikidata · CC0