Q132907

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

9 September 1926

Pronunciation

/ l uː ˈ n ɛər i ə /

Named after

Lunaria ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1926 RG · 1974 PJ, 1974 QC 3

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Itha

Observation arc

90.74 yr (33,142 days)

Aphelion

3.4206 AU

Perihelion

2.3207 AU

Semi major axis

2.8706 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.86 yr (1,777 days)

Mean anomaly

222.90 °

Mean motion

0° 12 9.36 / day

Inclination

10.547°

Longitude of ascending node

289.59°

Argument of perihelion

115.03°

Dimensions

15.43 ± 0.73 km , 18.02 ± 1.33 km , 18.07 km (derived) , 20.011 ± 0.100 km , 22.968 ± 0.243 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

20.011

Orbital period

1774.137784086035

via Wikidata · CC0