Q158051

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

16 February 1920

Pronunciation

/ r æ t ɪ s ˈ b oʊ n ə /

Named after

Regensburg , (German city)

Alternative designations

A920 DB · 1920 GO, 1958 VD · 1958 XQ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

99.57 yr (36,368 d)

Aphelion

3.5095 AU

Perihelion

2.9476 AU

Semi major axis

3.2285 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.80 yr (2,119 d)

Mean anomaly

88.007 °

Mean motion

0° 10 11.64 / day

Inclination

14.572°

Longitude of ascending node

7.6887°

Argument of perihelion

171.36°

Mean diameter

67.57 ± 1.3 km 75.892 ± 0.187 km 78.20 ± 1.11 km

via Wikipedia infobox