Q138298

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

3 April 1935

Named after

Louis Botha , ( South African prime minister )

Alternative designations

1935 GK · 1925 RF, 1930 KG · 1931 TP, 1935 JK · 1953 TO 1 , 1953 TY 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

85.55 yr (31,248 days)

Aphelion

3.8022 AU

Perihelion

2.4451 AU

Semi major axis

3.1237 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.52 yr (2,017 days)

Mean anomaly

255.58 °

Mean motion

0° 10 42.6 / day

Inclination

5.9581°

Longitude of ascending node

28.715°

Argument of perihelion

250.45°

Dimensions

38.41 ± 12.74 km , 41.732 ± 0.504 km , 42.54 ± 0.69 km , 46.567 ± 0.550 km , 48.75 ± 5.8 km , 48.82 km (derived) , 70.34 ± 0.88 km

Synodic rotation period

4 h (poor)

via Wikipedia infobox