Q158403

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

/ l i ˈ oʊ b ə /

Named after

Saint Leoba , (missionary to Germany)

Alternative designations

A922 FC · 1930 DA 1 , A906 FG · A916 UO, 1922 LS · 1906 FG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

113.13 yr (41,319 d)

Aphelion

2.8155 AU

Perihelion

2.2536 AU

Semi major axis

2.5346 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.04 yr (1,474 d)

Mean anomaly

248.30 °

Mean motion

0° 14 39.48 / day

Inclination

5.4563°

Longitude of ascending node

86.678°

Argument of perihelion

301.86°

Mean diameter

18.39 ± 2.6 km 25.001 ± 0.481 km 28.71 ± 0.91 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

25.001

Orbital period

1472.932429344347

via Wikidata · CC0