Q121353

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

V. Albitzkij

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

25 May 1924

Named after

Viktor Zaslavskij , (discoverer's relative)

Alternative designations

1924 RQ · 1961 AF, 1964 TB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

93.01 yr (33,972 d)

Aphelion

3.5067 AU

Perihelion

2.7357 AU

Semi major axis

3.1212 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.51 yr (2,014 d)

Mean anomaly

38.994 °

Mean motion

0° 10 43.32 / day

Inclination

14.780°

Longitude of ascending node

187.86°

Argument of perihelion

6.2246°

Mean diameter

52.72 ± 14.29 km , 58.38 ± 0.79 km , 59.717 ± 0.226 km , 64.13 ± 2.0 km , 65.94 ± 0.68 km , 69.139 ± 1.074 km

Synodic rotation period

5.7014 ± 0.0003 h , 6.332 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

59.717

Orbital period

2011.619455481582

Image

001030-asteroid shape model (1030) Vitja.png

via Wikidata · CC0