Q149580

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

T. Seki

Discovery site

Geisei Obs.

Discovery date

23 October 1981

Named after

Geisei (Japanese village)

Alternative designations

1981 UC · 1931 TA 4 , 1934 NV · 1944 OD, 1961 XG · 1981 WR 6 , A911 UC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

85.64 yr (31,280 days)

Aphelion

2.6607 AU

Perihelion

1.7953 AU

Semi major axis

2.2280 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.33 yr (1,215 days)

Mean anomaly

317.69 °

Mean motion

0° 17 47.04 / day

Inclination

2.8722°

Longitude of ascending node

66.915°

Argument of perihelion

284.78°

Dimensions

5.21 ± 0.95 km , 5.23 ± 1.07 km , 6.582 ± 0.035 km , 6.81 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

7.823 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Geisei

Followed by

Q642400

Follows

Q149565

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

6.582

Orbital period

1215.178486941803

via Wikidata · CC0