Q549318

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

8 January 1930

Named after

Johann Palisa , and Max Wolf , ( minor planet discoverers )

Alternative designations

1930 AD · 1926 AK, 1942 GE 1 · 1942 GY, 1969 MD · A924 QA

Minor planet category

main-belt · Vestian

Observation arc

92.61 yr (33,825 days)

Aphelion

2.5288 AU

Perihelion

2.3256 AU

Semi major axis

2.4272 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.78 yr (1,381 days)

Mean anomaly

356.07 °

Mean motion

0° 15 38.16 / day

Inclination

5.0797°

Longitude of ascending node

331.91°

Argument of perihelion

218.56°

Dimensions

15.69 ± 1.0 km , 15.90 km (derived) , 16.35 ± 0.31 km , 17.130 ± 0.115 km , 18.826 ± 0.090 km

Synodic rotation period

3.415 00 ± 0.000 05 h , 3.4151 ± 0.0009 h , 3.4154 ± 0.0001 h , 3.418 ± 0.005 h , 3.425 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox