Q117086

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

5 February 1929

Pronunciation

/ s aɪ ˈ d oʊ n i ə /

Named after

Cydonia (quince) , ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1929 CW

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Eunomia

Observation arc

88.41 yr (32,292 days)

Aphelion

2.9246 AU

Perihelion

2.2673 AU

Semi major axis

2.5959 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.18 yr (1,528 days)

Mean anomaly

71.500 °

Mean motion

0° 14 8.16 / day

Inclination

13.065°

Longitude of ascending node

328.26°

Argument of perihelion

230.23°

Mean diameter

12.140 ± 0.093 km , 12.818 ± 0.182 km , 12.95 ± 0.94 km , 13.26 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Named after

Cydonia oblonga

Followed by

1107 Lictoria

Follows

1105 Fragaria

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

12.14

Orbital period

1529.006696074131

via Wikidata · CC0