Q157858

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

19 May 1919

Named after

Name picked from the almanac , Lahrer Hinkender Bote

Alternative designations

A919 KD · 1935 ES, 1942 NB · 1955 LB, A909 HD · 1909 HD, 1919 FL

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) Flora · Bg

Observation arc

110.78 yr (40,464 d)

Aphelion

2.5728 AU

Perihelion

1.8219 AU

Semi major axis

2.1973 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.26 yr (1,190 d)

Mean anomaly

329.43 °

Mean motion

0° 18 9.36 / day

Inclination

5.8059°

Longitude of ascending node

94.928°

Argument of perihelion

188.68°

Mean diameter

11.32 ± 0.45 km 11.636 ± 0.240 km

Synodic rotation period

4.8720 ± 0.0002 h

via Wikipedia infobox