Q137281

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

C. Jackson

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

26 May 1932

Named after

Calvinia , (South African city)

Alternative designations

1932 KF · 1948 VT, 1950 CP · A906 FB, A914 YB · A916 DC, A917 KE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background · Koronis

Observation arc

112.59 yr (41,125 d)

Aphelion

3.1302 AU

Perihelion

2.6536 AU

Semi major axis

2.8919 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.92 yr (1,796 d)

Mean anomaly

137.36 °

Mean motion

0° 12 1.44 / day

Inclination

2.8936°

Longitude of ascending node

151.72°

Argument of perihelion

208.24°

Mean diameter

26.84 ± 3.5 km , 29.751 ± 0.204 km , 30.444 ± 0.137 km , 30.95 ± 0.78 km

Synodic rotation period

4.8523 ± 0.0001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

29.751

Orbital period

1797.270855472849

Image

001245-asteroid shape model (1245) Calvinia.png

via Wikidata · CC0