Q138687

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

12 June 1936

Named after

Algoa Bay , (in South Africa)

Alternative designations

1936 LK · 1929 TT, 1933 UY 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

80.42 yr (29,372 days)

Aphelion

2.6253 AU

Perihelion

2.2531 AU

Semi major axis

2.4392 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.81 yr (1,391 days)

Mean anomaly

94.682 °

Mean motion

0° 15 31.32 / day

Inclination

2.6746°

Longitude of ascending node

178.83°

Argument of perihelion

114.12°

Dimensions

14.22 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

2.768 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox