Q155027

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

Max Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Observatory

Discovery date

24 August 1903

Pronunciation

/ s ɛ n ˈ t ɛ z ɪ m ə /

Alternative designations

A903 QD · A914 WB · A916 BC · 1950 RM 1

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

112.65 yr (41144 d)

Aphelion

3.2648 AU (488.41 Gm )

Perihelion

2.7679 AU (414.07 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.0163 AU (451.23 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.24 yr (1913.5 d )

Mean anomaly

146.99°

Mean motion

0° 11 17.304 / day

Inclination

9.7329°

Longitude of ascending node

184.45°

Argument of perihelion

226.24°

Mean radius

25.075 ± 0.9 km ( IRAS )

Equatorial escape velocity

~25 m/s (56 mph)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Part of

Eos family

Named after

Q37413

Followed by

514 Armida

Follows

Q155021

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

48.805

Orbital period

1911.888305548515

via Wikidata · CC0