Q121528

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

24 November 1924

Named after

Edward Tuck , (American philanthropist)

Alternative designations

1924 TK · 1932 VA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hilda

Observation arc

92.34 yr (33,728 days)

Aphelion

4.8595 AU

Perihelion

3.1044 AU

Semi major axis

3.9820 AU

Orbital period sidereal

7.95 yr (2,902 days)

Mean anomaly

340.94 °

Mean motion

0° 7 26.4 / day

Inclination

9.1840°

Longitude of ascending node

57.769°

Argument of perihelion

305.02°

Jupiter moid

0.7613 AU

Dimensions

52.69 ± 2.41 km , 58.3 km (DASTCOM) , 58.36 km (derived)

via Wikipedia infobox