Q157308

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. Palisa

Discovery site

Vienna Obs.

Discovery date

29 August 1916

Named after

Max Wolf , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1916 ZW · 1928 DK, 1940 RA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora

Observation arc

100.68 yr (36,773 d )

Aphelion

2.6314 AU

Perihelion

1.9172 AU

Semi major axis

2.2743 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.43 yr (1,253 days)

Mean anomaly

145.31 °

Mean motion

0° 17 14.64 / day

Inclination

3.4231°

Longitude of ascending node

172.92°

Argument of perihelion

195.31°

Dimensions

6.51 km (calculated) , 8.488 ± 0.165 km , 8.976 ± 0.020 km

Synodic rotation period

4.0 ± 0.3 h , 4.0654 ± 0.0001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

8.488

Orbital period

1253.114884450954

via Wikidata · CC0