Q121988

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

11 September 1923

Named after

Willi Strobel (astronomer)

Alternative designations

1923 OG · 1926 GY, 1947 GC · 1949 QA 2 , 1952 DV 2 · 1957 CA, 1960 WH

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

93.11 yr (34,007 days)

Aphelion

3.2152 AU

Perihelion

2.8088 AU

Semi major axis

3.0120 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,909 days)

Mean anomaly

244.38 °

Mean motion

0° 11 18.6 / day

Inclination

19.387°

Longitude of ascending node

181.19°

Argument of perihelion

289.14°

Dimensions

51.15 ± 14.91 km , 53.147 ± 0.793 km , 54.26 ± 16.39 km , 56.58 ± 0.68 km , 57.06 km (derived) , 57.12 ± 1.7 km ( IRAS :12) , 59.345 ± 0.484 km

Synodic rotation period

9.52 ± 0.01 h , 11.80 h

via Wikipedia infobox