Q290643

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

Indiana University , ( Indiana Asteroid Program )

Discovery site

Goethe Link Obs.

Discovery date

7 September 1962

Named after

William Wallace Campbell (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

1962 RP · 1973 RD, 1975 EO 2 · 1977 RN 6 , 1981 WF 4

Minor planet category

main-belt · Nysa

Observation arc

54.74 yr (19,995 days)

Aphelion

2.8245 AU

Perihelion

1.9880 AU

Semi major axis

2.4062 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.73 yr (1,363 days)

Mean anomaly

191.78 °

Mean motion

0° 15 50.76 / day

Inclination

1.4901°

Longitude of ascending node

246.29°

Argument of perihelion

201.65°

Dimensions

5.73 ± 1.14 km , 6.907 ± 0.287 km , 7.46 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

2.747 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

6.907

Orbital period

1364.527286334331

Image

Орбита астероида 2751.png

via Wikidata · CC0