Q132871

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

20 November 1925

Pronunciation

/ f ɔːr ˈ s ɪ t i ə /

Named after

Forsythia ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1925 WD · 1962 DD, A907 EA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

110.32 yr (40,295 days)

Aphelion

3.3198 AU

Perihelion

2.5284 AU

Semi major axis

2.9241 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.00 yr (1,826 days)

Mean anomaly

165.01 °

Mean motion

0° 11 49.56 / day

Inclination

10.849°

Longitude of ascending node

85.888°

Argument of perihelion

294.19°

Dimensions

42.867 ± 11.18 km , 45.42 km (derived) , 45.47 ± 4.3 km , 46.40 ± 13.38 km , 46.69 ± 15.08 km , 47.780 ± 3.344 km , 53.04 ± 0.71 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

47.78

Orbital period

1824.274154330599

Image

001054-asteroid shape model (1054) Forsytia.png

via Wikidata · CC0