Q139049

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

K. Inkeri

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

3 April 1937

Named after

Tuorla Observatory , (Inst. for Astronomy and Optics)

Alternative designations

1937 GB · 1950 KC, 1950 LQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Eunomia

Observation arc

67.14 yr (24,522 days)

Aphelion

2.8766 AU

Perihelion

2.3483 AU

Semi major axis

2.6125 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.22 yr (1,542 days)

Mean anomaly

40.218 °

Mean motion

0° 14 0.24 / day

Inclination

12.975°

Longitude of ascending node

185.99°

Argument of perihelion

342.25°

Dimensions

11.795 ± 0.874 km , 14.34 ± 1.08 km , 14.94 ± 1.1 km

Synodic rotation period

6.76 ± 0.01 h , 6.97 ± 0.01 h , 7.748 ± 0.0027 h , 7.75 ± 0.06 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

11.795

Orbital period

1542.255209782945

via Wikidata · CC0