Q138275

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

3 October 1934

Named after

Marie-Thérèse Rossel , (editor of Le Soir )

Alternative designations

1934 TA · 1926 AF, 1929 TN · 1929 VH, 1934 VA · 1938 OC, 1948 QG · 1949 YY, A924 TB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Koronis

Observation arc

88.09 yr (32,176 days)

Aphelion

3.1133 AU

Perihelion

2.6007 AU

Semi major axis

2.8570 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.83 yr (1,764 days)

Mean anomaly

65.352 °

Mean motion

0° 12 14.76 / day

Inclination

2.9392°

Longitude of ascending node

139.55°

Argument of perihelion

237.70°

Dimensions

20.822 ± 0.185 km , 21.083 ± 0.147 km , 21.22 ± 0.38 km , 22.60 ± 3.16 km , 23.35 ± 1.7 km

Synodic rotation period

6.0 h , 8.1394 ± 0.0002 h , 8.140 ± 0.001 h , 8.14 ± 0.05 h , 8.140 08 ± 0.000 01 h , 8.140 11 ± 0.000 05 h , 8.16 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox