Q132896

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

6 December 1925

Pronunciation

/ æ k w ɪ ˈ l iː dʒ ( i ) ə /

Named after

Aquilegia ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1925 XA · 1948 EP, 1956 SK · A906 KA, A910 NC · A920 GB, A923 CA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Flora · background

Observation arc

111.49 yr (40,722 days)

Aphelion

2.4058 AU

Perihelion

2.2223 AU

Semi major axis

2.3141 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.52 yr (1,286 days)

Mean anomaly

243.41 °

Mean motion

0° 16 48 / day

Inclination

5.9729°

Longitude of ascending node

95.327°

Argument of perihelion

107.54°

Dimensions

11.288 ± 0.540 km , 17.32 ± 3.18 km , 17.75 ± 1.2 km , 18.93 ± 0.37 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

11.288

Orbital period

1285.640275238476

via Wikidata · CC0