Q139232

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. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

29 December 1937

Named after

Ruppin (German city)

Alternative designations

1937 YG · 1931 TX 3

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

85.20 yr (31,121 days)

Aphelion

3.1266 AU

Perihelion

2.7496 AU

Semi major axis

2.9381 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.04 yr (1,840 days)

Mean anomaly

61.181 °

Mean motion

0° 11 44.52 / day

Inclination

1.9299°

Longitude of ascending node

174.89°

Argument of perihelion

163.11°

Dimensions

16.467 ± 0.127 km , 16.67 ± 0.75 km , 16.713 ± 0.173 km , 18 ± 3 km , 32.18 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

5.880 ± 0.001 h , 5.890 ± 0.040 h , 5.9046 ± 0.0347 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

16.467

Orbital period

1839.369856090271

via Wikidata · CC0