Q132850

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

G. van Biesbroeck

Discovery site

Yerkes Obs.

Discovery date

1 December 1924

Named after

Edwin Van Biesbroeck , (discoverer's son)

Alternative designations

1924 UA · 1949 RB, 1949 YL

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

91.86 yr (33,553 d)

Aphelion

3.1769 AU

Perihelion

2.7895 AU

Semi major axis

2.9832 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.15 yr (1,882 d)

Mean anomaly

53.846 °

Mean motion

0° 11 28.68 / day

Inclination

7.8991°

Longitude of ascending node

10.745°

Argument of perihelion

47.898°

Mean diameter

25.15 ± 0.66 km , 29.084 ± 0.405 km , 36.355 ± 0.604 km , 42.23 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

5.29 ± 0.01 h , 5.2906 ± 0.0001 h , 5.296 ± 0.006 h , 5.30 ± 0.02 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

29.084

Orbital period

1884.230458362953

Image

Orbit of 1046 Edwin.gif

via Wikidata · CC0