Q146166

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. Wild

Discovery site

Zimmerwald Obs.

Discovery date

24 November 1973

Named after

Lugano (Swiss city)

Alternative designations

1973 WD · 1936 LC, 1949 KE 1 · 1951 WX, 1964 VA 1 · 1970 AG 1 , 1970 AL 1 · 1970 CD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Adeona

Observation arc

61.33 yr (22,399 days)

Aphelion

3.0395 AU

Perihelion

2.3131 AU

Semi major axis

2.6763 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.38 yr (1,599 days)

Mean anomaly

291.44 °

Mean motion

0° 13 30.36 / day

Inclination

10.254°

Longitude of ascending node

265.17°

Argument of perihelion

255.13°

Dimensions

23.48 ± 8.63 km , 24.56 km (derived) , 24.81 ± 0.8 km , 27.95 ± 0.87 km , 31.037 ± 0.137 km , 31.43 ± 8.87 km , 33.704 ± 0.067 km

Synodic rotation period

19.594 ± 0.007 h , 19.651 ± 0.015 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

33.905

Orbital period

1596.928281650193

via Wikidata · CC0