Q142574

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

P. Djurkovic

Discovery site

Belgrade Obs.

Discovery date

27 August 1940

Named after

Zvezdara , (location, "star-house")

Alternative designations

1940 QC · 1929 PM, 1951 SB · 1951 SO, 1955 XP · 1962 WJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner )

Observation arc

87.38 yr (31,916 days)

Aphelion

2.8944 AU

Perihelion

1.8266 AU

Semi major axis

2.3605 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.63 yr (1,325 days)

Mean anomaly

60.598 °

Mean motion

0° 16 18.48 / day

Inclination

4.5153°

Longitude of ascending node

356.96°

Argument of perihelion

15.308°

Dimensions

20.176 ± 0.209 km , 20.86 km (derived) , 21.71 ± 0.41 km

Synodic rotation period

9.114 ± 0.001 h , 9.114 ± 0.008 h

via Wikipedia infobox