Q140330

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

22 August 1906

Named after

unknown, (named by A. Patry )

Alternative designations

1906 UR · 1936 ME, 1939 HC · 1940 XA, 1970 XA · A916 OC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

110.06 yr (40,198 days)

Aphelion

2.6876 AU

Perihelion

1.7937 AU

Semi major axis

2.2407 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.35 yr (1,225 days)

Mean anomaly

41.914 °

Mean motion

0° 17 38.04 / day

Inclination

4.5349°

Longitude of ascending node

145.85°

Argument of perihelion

179.38°

Dimensions

6.66 ± 0.27 km , 7.07 km (derived) , 7.784 ± 0.062 km , 8.129 ± 0.021 km

Synodic rotation period

10.033 ± 0.002 h , 10.424 66 h , 10.424 68 ± 0.000 05 h , 10.438 h

via Wikipedia infobox