Q11557

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

3 March 1924

Named after

Gustav Stracke , (German astronomer)

Alternative designations

1924 QN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Hungaria · background

Observation arc

92.08 yr (33,632 days)

Aphelion

2.0477 AU

Perihelion

1.7756 AU

Semi major axis

1.9117 AU

Orbital period sidereal

2.64 yr (965 days)

Mean anomaly

316.21 °

Mean motion

0° 22 22.44 / day

Inclination

26.977°

Longitude of ascending node

144.42°

Argument of perihelion

121.85°

Dimensions

7.169 ± 0.263 km , 7.44 ± 1.36 km , 8.37 ± 0.7 km ( IRAS :3) , 8.79 ± 0.23 km

Synodic rotation period

3.832 h (incorrect) , 4.044 ± 0.002 h , 4.046 59 ± 0.000 06 h , 4.047 ± 0.001 h , 4.047 ± 0.005 h , 4.05 ± 0.01 h , 4.052 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

7.169

Orbital period

965.3345109641305

via Wikidata · CC0