Q132890

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

10 October 1925

Pronunciation

/ p iː ˈ oʊ n i ə /

Named after

peony (flowering plant)

Alternative designations

1925 TB · 1925 XB, 1936 SM · 1942 XD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis · background

Observation arc

91.72 yr (33,502 d)

Aphelion

3.7986 AU

Perihelion

2.4505 AU

Semi major axis

3.1245 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.52 yr (2,017 d)

Mean anomaly

249.51 °

Mean motion

0° 10 42.6 / day

Inclination

2.4993°

Longitude of ascending node

90.923°

Argument of perihelion

306.27°

Mean diameter

17.95 km (calculated) , 18.63 ± 5.52 km , 23.092 ± 0.151 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

23.092

Orbital period

2015.926749240353

Image

001061-asteroid shape model (1061) Paeonia.png

via Wikidata · CC0