Q141756

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

7 March 1924

Named after

Alfred Bohrmann , (astronomer

Alternative designations

1924 QW · 1931 VH 1 , 1936 UJ · 1938 CH, 1939 HL · 1943 EG 1 , 1948 EA 1 · 1953 FH

Minor planet category

main-belt · Koronis

Observation arc

93.24 yr (34,057 days)

Aphelion

3.0174 AU

Perihelion

2.6894 AU

Semi major axis

2.8534 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.82 yr (1,761 days)

Mean anomaly

357.19 °

Mean motion

0° 12 16.2 / day

Inclination

1.8222°

Longitude of ascending node

184.35°

Argument of perihelion

136.06°

Dimensions

16.60 ± 0.82 km , 17.12 km (calculated) , 17.127 ± 0.171 , 17.533 ± 0.244 km , 19.12 ± 0.70 km

Synodic rotation period

5.864 ± 0.001 h , 5.864 27 ± 0.000 05 h , 11.730 ± 0.005 h , 11.73 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox