Q149033

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

24 January 1906

Named after

parents of British astronomer Brian G. Marsden

Alternative designations

A906 BJ · 1927 DD, 1934 PS · 1949 MV, 1950 RD 1 · 1950 TF 3 , 1953 CH · 1953 EO, 1957 WH · 1959 JR, 1961 TE 1 · 1961 TW 1 , 1965 OE · 1974 DQ 1 , 1974 FC 1 · 1981 NN 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

111.76 yr (40,821 d)

Aphelion

3.1804 AU

Perihelion

2.8297 AU

Semi major axis

3.0050 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.21 yr (1,903 d)

Mean anomaly

138.10 °

Mean motion

0° 11 21.12 / day

Inclination

11.444°

Longitude of ascending node

118.77°

Argument of perihelion

68.441°

Mean diameter

28.44 ± 0.76 km , 30.89 ± 1.6 km , 31.878 ± 0.412 km , 34.07 ± 0.65 km , 37.577 ± 0.236 km

Synodic rotation period

3.974 h , 4.0 ± 0.1 h , 6.822 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

31.878

Orbital period

1906.729683689573

via Wikidata · CC0