Q141335

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

P. Đurković

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

13 April 1936

Named after

Milutin Milanković , (Serbian scientist)

Alternative designations

1936 GA · 1925 DC, 1931 KB · 1938 ST, 1941 FA · 1946 FF, 1949 UC 1 · 1968 KP, A907 UB

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eos

Observation arc

80.69 yr (29,472 days)

Aphelion

3.2472 AU

Perihelion

2.7796 AU

Semi major axis

3.0134 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,911 days)

Mean anomaly

310.79 °

Mean motion

0° 11 18.24 / day

Inclination

10.562°

Longitude of ascending node

173.74°

Argument of perihelion

276.14°

Dimensions

27.78 ± 3.57 km , 29.404 ± 0.197 km , 29.598 ± 0.217 , 32.38 km (derived) , 32.47 ± 1.5 km ( IRAS :6) , 33.80 ± 0.42 km

Synodic rotation period

11.60 ± 0.05 h , 11.63 ± 0.03 h

via Wikipedia infobox