Q137048

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. Reiss

Discovery site

Algiers Obs.

Discovery date

5 December 1931

Named after

Algeria (country)

Alternative designations

1931 XD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

84.53 yr (30,873 days)

Aphelion

3.5408 AU

Perihelion

2.7442 AU

Semi major axis

3.1425 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.57 yr (2,035 days)

Mean anomaly

168.11 °

Mean motion

0° 10 36.84 / day

Inclination

13.064°

Longitude of ascending node

271.54°

Argument of perihelion

108.60°

Dimensions

29.175 ± 0.251 , 30.189 ± 0.239 km , 30.6 ± 3.1 km , 31 ± 3 km , 33.08 km (derived) , 33.20 ± 4.7 km ( IRAS :3) , 33.51 ± 0.78 km , 34.46 ± 0.67 km

Synodic rotation period

16 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

29.175

Orbital period

2027.067112064732

via Wikidata · CC0