Q142458

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

29 September 1934

Named after

Frederik Kaiser (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1934 SB · 1960 SD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

82.60 yr (30,168 days)

Aphelion

3.0137 AU

Perihelion

1.7759 AU

Semi major axis

2.3948 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.71 yr (1,354 days)

Mean anomaly

125.25 °

Mean motion

0° 15 57.24 / day

Inclination

11.103°

Longitude of ascending node

13.421°

Argument of perihelion

356.15°

Dimensions

13.84 ± 1.27 km , 15.678 ± 0.175 km , 28.42 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

9 h , 13.02 ± 0.01 h , 13.23 ± 0.02 h

via Wikipedia infobox