Q132864

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

16 September 1925

Pronunciation

/ ˈ m ɛr ə p iː /

Named after

Μερόπη Meropē , (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1925 SA · 1926 XA, 1931 TM 3 · 1936 OG, A908 TE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Alauda

Observation arc

92.19 yr (33,673 d)

Aphelion

3.5341 AU

Perihelion

2.8948 AU

Semi major axis

3.2144 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.76 yr (2,105 d)

Mean anomaly

25.459 °

Mean motion

0° 10 15.6 / day

Inclination

23.507°

Longitude of ascending node

180.72°

Argument of perihelion

152.97°

Mean diameter

60.439 ± 0.146 km , 65.130 ± 0.245 km , 67.11 km (derived) , 67.21 ± 1.9 km , 69.22 ± 21.30 km , 69.85 ± 0.88 km , 74.36 ± 28.24 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

60.439

Orbital period

2106.035807396592

via Wikidata · CC0