Q11561

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

7 March 1924

Pronunciation

/ ɑːr ˈ k eɪ d i ə /

Named after

Arcadia (Greek region)

Alternative designations

1924 QV · 1954 UA 2 , 1975 EQ · 1977 QO 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Agnia

Observation arc

93.89 yr (34,293 d)

Aphelion

2.9152 AU

Perihelion

2.6666 AU

Semi major axis

2.7909 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.66 yr (1,703 d)

Mean anomaly

18.189 °

Mean motion

0° 12 41.04 / day

Inclination

4.0598°

Longitude of ascending node

180.71°

Argument of perihelion

37.691°

Mean diameter

10.067 ± 0.090 km , 10.415 ± 0.123 km , 13.02 ± 0.49 km , 21.16 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

10.067

Orbital period

1704.829698418634

via Wikidata · CC0