Q141928

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. Laugier

Discovery site

Nice Obs.

Discovery date

23 April 1936

Named after

Johann Behrens, (pastor, astronomer)

Alternative designations

1936 HD · 1939 EJ, 1940 QD · 1944 YA, 1947 WA · 1950 TB 4 , 1952 FF · 1952 HB, 1952 KG · 1958 BC, 1961 AB · 1963 UQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

81.03 yr (29,597 days)

Aphelion

2.3237 AU

Perihelion

2.0354 AU

Semi major axis

2.1796 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.22 yr (1,175 days)

Mean anomaly

147.98 °

Mean motion

0° 18 22.68 / day

Inclination

5.0752°

Longitude of ascending node

187.51°

Argument of perihelion

339.10°

Dimensions

8.963 ± 0.113 , 9.264 ± 0.080 km , 10.25 ± 2.24 km , 10.31 km (calculated) , 10.33 ± 2.35 km

Synodic rotation period

34.34 ± 0.10 h

via Wikipedia infobox