Q121472

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

H. E. Wood

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

30 May 1924

Named after

Pafuri Triangle /River , (in South Africa)

Alternative designations

1924 SA · 1937 XB, 1947 SA · 1961 AQ, 1965 YJ · A917 CC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

100.95 yr (36,873 d)

Aphelion

3.5799 AU

Perihelion

2.6806 AU

Semi major axis

3.1303 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.54 yr (2,023 d)

Mean anomaly

317.36 °

Mean motion

0° 10 40.8 / day

Inclination

9.4808°

Longitude of ascending node

76.322°

Argument of perihelion

189.23°

Mean diameter

54.61 km (derived) , 54.67 ± 3.4 km , 62.60 ± 0.81 km , 65.658 ± 0.280 km , 68.74 ± 24.54 km , 70.27 ± 18.94 km , 75.265 ± 0.792 km

Synodic rotation period

13 h (at least) , 24 h (at least)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

65.658

Orbital period

2021.611723406111

Image

001032-asteroid shape model (1032) Pafuri.png

via Wikidata · CC0