Q158395

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

18 March 1922

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ r eɪ l i ə /

Named after

Aralia , (genus of plants)

Alternative designations

A922 FB · 1954 SE, 1922 LR

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Ursula

Observation arc

97.80 yr (35,720 d)

Aphelion

3.5717 AU

Perihelion

2.8522 AU

Semi major axis

3.2119 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.76 yr (2,103 d)

Mean anomaly

63.633 °

Mean motion

0° 10 16.32 / day

Inclination

15.828°

Longitude of ascending node

348.44°

Argument of perihelion

87.856°

Mean diameter

51.60 ± 1.6 km 51.609 ± 0.389 km 55.50 ± 0.77 km

via Wikipedia infobox