Q146347

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

29 October 1951

Named after

Rupert Wildt (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1951 UK · 1929 VC, 1929 WD · 1934 RJ, 1951 WG · 1958 BD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

87.14 yr (31,829 days)

Aphelion

3.6776 AU

Perihelion

2.5416 AU

Semi major axis

3.1096 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.48 yr (2,003 days)

Mean anomaly

347.06 °

Mean motion

0° 10 46.92 / day

Inclination

2.4591°

Longitude of ascending node

74.270°

Argument of perihelion

326.88°

Dimensions

21.970 ± 0.270 , 24 km (est. at 0.06 )

Geometric albedo

0.070 ± 0.006

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

21.97

Orbital period

2003.234514741063

via Wikidata · CC0