Q142457

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

H. van Gent

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs. , (Leiden Southern Station)

Discovery date

5 May 1935

Named after

Ejnar Hertzsprung , (chemist, astronomer)

Alternative designations

1935 LA · 1930 HG, 1944 HA · 1950 VM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( central )

Observation arc

81.90 yr (29,914 days)

Aphelion

3.5603 AU

Perihelion

2.0306 AU

Semi major axis

2.7955 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.67 yr (1,707 days)

Mean anomaly

164.16 °

Mean motion

0° 12 39.24 / day

Inclination

11.942°

Longitude of ascending node

69.989°

Argument of perihelion

234.93°

Dimensions

30.95 ± 8.64 , 35.27 ± 0.47 km , 37.772 ± 0.320 , 38.67 ± 1.5 km ( IRAS :5) , 39 ± 4 km , 40.396 ± 0.972 km , 41.97 ± 3.65

Synodic rotation period

8.825 h

via Wikipedia infobox