Q137061

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

29 January 1932

Named after

Askania Werke, (German manufacturer)

Alternative designations

1932 BL · 1952 DH, 1984 YY 6 · A909 GF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora · background

Observation arc

110.32 yr (40,295 days)

Aphelion

2.6325 AU

Perihelion

1.8328 AU

Semi major axis

2.2327 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,219 days)

Mean anomaly

134.38 °

Mean motion

0° 17 43.44 / day

Inclination

7.5997°

Longitude of ascending node

121.60°

Argument of perihelion

144.64°

Mean diameter

7.21 ± 0.38 km , 9.62 ± 2.53 km , 10.08 ± 0.54 km , 10.533 ± 0.089 km

Synodic rotation period

6.536 ± 0.003 h

via Wikipedia infobox