Q114584

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

G. Witt

Discovery date

8 October 1896

Pronunciation

/ b ɛr ə ˈ l aɪ n ə /

Named after

Berlin

Alternative designations

1896 DA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

109.00 yr (39811 d)

Aphelion

2.70724 AU (404.997 Gm )

Perihelion

1.74907 AU (261.657 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.22815 AU (333.326 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

3.33 yr (1214.8 d )

Mean anomaly

29.4528 °

Mean motion

0° 17 46.817 / day

Inclination

4.99913°

Longitude of ascending node

9.08604°

Argument of perihelion

335.361°

Dimensions

10.714 km

Synodic rotation period

12.79 h (0.533 d )

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

10.714

Mass

61200000000000000

Orbital period

1215.043221158254

via Wikidata · CC0