Q137049

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

1 January 1932

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1932 AA · 1930 QD, 1961 PC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

86.52 yr (31,602 days)

Aphelion

3.0319 AU

Perihelion

2.3881 AU

Semi major axis

2.7100 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.46 yr (1,629 days)

Mean anomaly

207.11 °

Mean motion

0° 13 15.24 / day

Inclination

9.8345°

Longitude of ascending node

285.92°

Argument of perihelion

32.580°

Dimensions

30.70 ± 12.73 km , 33.26 ± 8.39 km , 33.651 ± 8.835 km , 34.134 ± 0.253 km , 34.94 ± 0.50 km , 35.22 km (derived) , 35.29 ± 3.2 km , 36.668 ± 0.575 km , 39.58 ± 11.00 km

Synodic rotation period

9.860 h , 9.866 87 ± 0.000 05 h , 9.870 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox