Q144207

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

27 January 1932

Named after

Ludwig van Beethoven , (German composer)

Alternative designations

1932 CE 1 · 1938 EP, 1952 SO · 1954 BD, 1958 TJ · 1969 UY 1 , 1971 BN 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

86.62 yr (31,638 d)

Aphelion

3.7534 AU

Perihelion

2.5495 AU

Semi major axis

3.1515 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.59 yr (2,043 d)

Mean anomaly

206.51 °

Mean motion

0° 10 34.32 / day

Inclination

2.7406°

Longitude of ascending node

110.81°

Argument of perihelion

358.50°

Mean diameter

23.74 ± 7.79 km , 29.82 ± 0.28 km , 30.36 ± 2.2 km , 30.598 ± 0.168 km , 32.74 ± 1.30 km , 33.899 ± 0.294 km

Synodic rotation period

54 ± 1 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

30.598

Orbital period

2041.997365597352

via Wikidata · CC0