Q158000

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

30 October 1918

Named after

Fairy tale character "Ilsebill" , ( The Fisherman and his Wife )

Alternative designations

A918 UD · 1935 JG, 1950 RP · 1950 SE, 1950 TN · 1972 MA, 1918 EQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

101.19 yr (36,960 d)

Aphelion

3.0033 AU

Perihelion

2.5408 AU

Semi major axis

2.7721 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.62 yr (1,686 d)

Mean anomaly

14.861 °

Mean motion

0° 12 48.96 / day

Inclination

8.1657°

Longitude of ascending node

229.83°

Argument of perihelion

156.02°

Mean diameter

27.65 ± 1.7 km 33.41 ± 0.49 km 33.500 ± 0.071 km

Synodic rotation period

5.0325 ± 0.0011 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

33.5

Orbital period

1687.379779150416

via Wikidata · CC0