Q156826

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

H. Vogt

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

9 December 1912

Named after

Margarete Vogt , and Hanna, (discoverer's mother/relative)

Alternative designations

A912 XD · 1952 OH, 1952 OJ · 1952 QA, 1952 QB · 1912 PY

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) background

Observation arc

107.38 yr (39,222 d)

Aphelion

3.6059 AU

Perihelion

1.8535 AU

Semi major axis

2.7297 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.51 yr (1,647 d)

Mean anomaly

346.73 °

Mean motion

0° 13 6.6 / day

Inclination

16.866°

Longitude of ascending node

42.952°

Argument of perihelion

309.76°

Mean diameter

67.235 ± 0.513 km 74.32 ± 1.6 km 78.69 ± 1.62 km

Mass

(2.15 ± 0.68) × 10 kg

via Wikipedia infobox