Q139916

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

14 June 1936

Named after

Limpopo River

Alternative designations

1936 LB · 1931 BL, 1937 WJ · 1937 YK, 1947 ND · 1965 OD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

85.81 yr (31,341 days)

Aphelion

2.7182 AU

Perihelion

1.9869 AU

Semi major axis

2.3525 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.61 yr (1,318 days)

Mean anomaly

63.865 °

Mean motion

0° 16 23.16 / day

Inclination

10.020°

Longitude of ascending node

254.27°

Argument of perihelion

90.817°

Dimensions

14.844 ± 0.112 , 16.358 ± 0.045 km , 18.55 km (derived) , 18.58 ± 1.4 km , 19.35 ± 0.27 km , 20.21 ± 0.36 km

Synodic rotation period

6.15 ± 0.1 h , 6.426 ± 0.003 h , 6.647 ± 0.004 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

14.844

Orbital period

1317.454766520336

Image

1490Limpopo (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0