838 Seraphina

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

24 September 1916

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

A916 SL · 1916 AH, 2019 FC 5

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

103.28 yr (37,724 d)

Aphelion

3.2777 AU

Perihelion

2.5189 AU

Semi major axis

2.8983 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.93 yr (1,802 d)

Mean anomaly

15.248 °

Mean motion

0° 11 59.28 / day

Inclination

10.423°

Longitude of ascending node

240.05°

Argument of perihelion

117.10°

Mean diameter

49.36 ± 0.78 km 58.095 ± 0.496 km 59.81 ± 2.3 km

Synodic rotation period

15.67 ± 0.02 h

via Wikipedia infobox