Q132869

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

16 November 1925

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1925 WA · 1929 RM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

91.55 yr (33,439 d)

Aphelion

2.8669 AU

Perihelion

2.3616 AU

Semi major axis

2.6143 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.23 yr (1,544 d)

Mean anomaly

280.15 °

Mean motion

0° 13 59.52 / day

Inclination

8.3407°

Longitude of ascending node

17.590°

Argument of perihelion

42.538°

Mean diameter

9.110 ± 1.041 km

Geometric albedo

0.389 ± 0.269

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of

asteroid

Followed by

Q132871

Follows

1052 Belgica

Parent body

Sun

Minor-planet group

asteroid belt

Diameter

9.11

Orbital period

1545.112621087372

via Wikidata · CC0