Q152059

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

Auguste Charlois

Discovery date

18 September 1893

Pronunciation

/ b ɜːr ˈ ɡ ʌ n d i ə /

Named after

Burgundy

Alternative designations

1893 AK

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

122 years

Aphelion

3.002 AU (449.1 million km )

Perihelion

2.556 AU (382.4 million km)

Semi major axis

2.779 AU (415.7 million km)

Orbital period sidereal

4.63 yr (1692 d )

Mean anomaly

294.1 °

Mean motion

0° 12 45 / day

Inclination

8.991°

Longitude of ascending node

218.9°

Time of perihelion

26 September 2026

Argument of perihelion

29.05°

Dimensions

44.67 ± 1.3 km

via Wikipedia infobox