Q138511

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

F. Rigaux

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

21 February 1936

Named after

Leonce Rigaux , (discoverer's father)

Alternative designations

1936 DB · 1958 FG, 1958 GY · 1962 KB, A915 RC · A915 WA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Nysa

Observation arc

101.54 yr (37,088 days)

Aphelion

2.7300 AU

Perihelion

2.0187 AU

Semi major axis

2.3743 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.66 yr (1,336 days)

Mean anomaly

38.698 °

Mean motion

0° 16 9.84 / day

Inclination

3.5913°

Longitude of ascending node

43.568°

Argument of perihelion

202.15°

Dimensions

14.94 ± 3.81 km , 18.16 km (derived) , 18.18 ± 1.4 km , 20.54 ± 0.13 km , 21.228 ± 0.070 km , 22.20 ± 0.33 km , 22.456 ± 0.170 km

Synodic rotation period

4.3250 ± 0.0002 h , 4.325 ± 0.001 h , 4.325 27 ± 0.000 05 h , 4.3586 ± 0.0002 h

via Wikipedia infobox