Q132897

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

2 August 1926

Pronunciation

/ iː ˈ θj uː s ə /

Named after

Aethusa cynapium , (fool's parsley)

Alternative designations

1926 PA · 1962 HF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

90.66 yr (33,112 days)

Aphelion

2.9930 AU

Perihelion

2.0917 AU

Semi major axis

2.5424 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.05 yr (1,481 days)

Mean anomaly

165.59 °

Mean motion

0° 14 35.16 / day

Inclination

9.5020°

Longitude of ascending node

280.57°

Argument of perihelion

20.515°

Dimensions

17.42 ± 3.60 km , 18.56 km (derived) , 18.66 ± 0.9 km , 19.77 ± 0.36 km , 20.007 ± 0.173 km , 22.377 ± 0.131 km , 25.361 ± 4.376 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.007

Orbital period

1483.369114484759

via Wikidata · CC0