Q137183

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

10 October 1931

Pronunciation

/ k ɔːr ˈ tj uː s ə /

Named after

Cortusa , (flowering plant)

Alternative designations

1931 TF 2 · 1930 OH

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

88.16 yr (32,200 d)

Aphelion

3.6109 AU

Perihelion

2.7535 AU

Semi major axis

3.1822 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.68 yr (2,073 d)

Mean anomaly

279.34 °

Mean motion

0° 10 24.96 / day

Inclination

10.362°

Longitude of ascending node

261.21°

Argument of perihelion

340.44°

Mean diameter

33.13 ± 2.3 km , 36.367 ± 0.463 km , 36.60 ± 9.07 km , 39.17 ± 11.98 km , 42.015 ± 0.259 km , 42.20 ± 1.11 km , 43.27 ± 0.82 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

36.367

Orbital period

2065.676954145819

via Wikidata · CC0