Q156678

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

J. Helffrich

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

3 February 1911

Pronunciation

/ f r ɪ n ˈ dʒ ɪ l ə /

Alternative designations

1911 LK

Observation arc

110.15 yr (40234 d)

Aphelion

3.2439 AU (485.28 Gm )

Perihelion

2.5923 AU (387.80 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.9181 AU (436.54 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.98 yr (1820.7 d )

Mean anomaly

215.54 °

Mean motion

0° 11 51.792 / day

Inclination

16.267°

Longitude of ascending node

324.454°

Argument of perihelion

18.534°

Mean radius

48.28 ± 1.7 km

Synodic rotation period

52.4 h (2.18 d )

Geometric albedo

0.0459 ± 0.003

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Fringilla

Followed by

Q156685

Follows

708 Raphaela

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

95.173

Orbital period

1815.954888533061

Image

Orbit 709 Fringilla.png

via Wikidata · CC0