Q141701

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

11 October 1936

Named after

August Kopff (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1936 UC · 1926 TH, 1935 FG · 1946 SA, 1952 HV 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

90.37 yr (33,006 days)

Aphelion

2.7129 AU

Perihelion

1.7572 AU

Semi major axis

2.2350 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.34 yr (1,220 days)

Mean anomaly

107.17 °

Inclination

7.4943°

Longitude of ascending node

16.826°

Argument of perihelion

315.11°

Dimensions

8.636 ± 0.395 km , 9.58 ± 0.21 km , 9.66 ± 1.2 km , 9.71 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

6.683 ± 0.001 h

Geometric albedo

0.2497 ± 0.074 , 0.259 ± 0.012 , 0.2710 (derived) , 0.342 ± 0.061

via Wikipedia infobox