Q142168

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

29 January 1935

Named after

Guido Gezelle , (poet and priest)

Alternative designations

1935 BD · 1929 AA, 1933 SE 1 · 1939 VK, 1950 SX · 1978 NA 8 , A924 EO

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

83.62 yr (30,542 days)

Aphelion

4.0486 AU

Perihelion

2.2952 AU

Semi major axis

3.1719 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.65 yr (2,063 days)

Mean anomaly

183.87 °

Mean motion

0° 10 28.2 / day

Inclination

1.0672°

Longitude of ascending node

181.29°

Argument of perihelion

255.12°

Dimensions

26.205 ± 0.202 km , 26.335 ± 0.216 km , 26.56 ± 1.86 km , 27.90 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

40.6821 ± 0.0001 h , 40.6824 ± 0.0005 h , 40.72 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

26.205

Orbital period

2059.757586334186

Image

001672-asteroid shape model (1672) Gezelle.png

via Wikidata · CC0