Q157232

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

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

28 November 1915

Named after

H. Baum , (German astronomy student)

Alternative designations

A915 WJ · 1945 WC, 1974 QR 2 · 1974 QY 2 , A907 GH · 1915 YR

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

112.84 yr (41,213 d)

Aphelion

2.2813 AU

Perihelion

2.1646 AU

Semi major axis

2.2230 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.31 yr (1,211 d)

Mean anomaly

226.31 °

Mean motion

0° 17 50.64 / day

Inclination

6.2970°

Longitude of ascending node

51.942°

Argument of perihelion

315.69°

Mean diameter

11.719 ± 0.660 km 13.50 ± 1.2 km

Synodic rotation period

10.543 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

11.719

Orbital period

1211.326048080912

via Wikidata · CC0