Q149754

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

Johann Palisa

Discovery date

3 November 1886

Pronunciation

/ ˈ d r ɛ z d ə /

Named after

Dresden

Alternative designations

A886 VB, 1905 OC, 1915 RL, 1917 BA, 1950 XV, 1977 PC

Minor planet category

Main belt ( Koronis )

Observation arc

118.15 yr (43153 d)

Aphelion

3.10916 AU (465.124 Gm )

Perihelion

2.66885 AU (399.254 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.88900 AU (432.188 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.91 yr (1793.6 d )

Average orbital speed

17.53 km/s

Mean anomaly

178.711 °

Mean motion

0° 12 2.578 / day

Inclination

1.31813°

Longitude of ascending node

216.168°

Argument of perihelion

162.281°

Dimensions

23.24 ± 1.9 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

23.952

Orbital period

1789.552904558292

via Wikidata · CC0