Q154671

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 , L. Carnera

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

21 May 1901

Pronunciation

/ ˈ h æ n s ə /

Named after

Hanseatic League , (medieval trade association)

Alternative designations

1901 GL · A905 JA, A911 UJ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Hansa

Observation arc

116.44 yr (42,528 d)

Aphelion

2.7656 AU

Perihelion

2.5213 AU

Semi major axis

2.6435 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.30 yr (1,570 d)

Mean anomaly

222.78 °

Mean motion

0° 13 45.48 / day

Inclination

21.307°

Longitude of ascending node

237.18°

Argument of perihelion

214.53°

Mean diameter

55.94 ± 0.58 km , 56.22 ± 2.5 km , 65.67 ± 20.89 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

56.22

Orbital period

1570.35568326258

via Wikidata · CC0