Q139976

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

Y. Väisälä

Discovery site

Turku Obs.

Discovery date

16 September 1938

Named after

Savonia , (Finnish region)

Alternative designations

1938 SJ · 1925 RL, 1938 SG 1 · 1948 VR, 1951 SV · 1953 GD, 1966 HB · 1976 HZ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

78.50 yr (28,673 days)

Aphelion

2.4777 AU

Perihelion

1.9019 AU

Semi major axis

2.1898 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.24 yr (1,184 days)

Mean anomaly

114.29 °

Mean motion

0° 18 14.76 / day

Inclination

2.4560°

Longitude of ascending node

195.02°

Argument of perihelion

184.32°

Dimensions

7.80 ± 0.22 km , 7.804 ± 0.219 km , 9.23 ± 0.43 km , 10.30 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

5.350 11 ± 0.000 28 h , 5.350 20 ± 0.000 05 h , 5.350 31 ± 0.000 05 h , 5.350 59 ± 0.000 01 h , 5.350 59 ± 0.000 05 h , 5.350 62 ± 0.000 05 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

7.804

Orbital period

1183.998762047107

Image

001494-asteroid shape model (1494) Savo.png

via Wikidata · CC0