Q132912

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

28 January 1927

Named after

Max Planck , (German physicist)

Alternative designations

1927 BC · 1952 QY, 1975 VG 8

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

90.75 yr (33,147 d )

Aphelion

3.4721 AU

Perihelion

2.7809 AU

Semi major axis

3.1265 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.53 yr (2,019 days)

Mean anomaly

76.394 °

Mean motion

0° 10 41.88 / day

Inclination

13.563°

Longitude of ascending node

142.38°

Argument of perihelion

31.794°

Dimensions

35.657 ± 0.680 km , 39.17 ± 1.40 km , 39.35 km (derived) , 39.50 ± 2.1 km , 43.675 ± 0.859 km , 44.34 ± 1.28 km

Synodic rotation period

8.643 ± 0.05 h , 8.655 ± 0.001 h , 8.66 ± 0.05 h , 8.665 ± 0.005 h , 10.58 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

35.657

Orbital period

2018.990117451515

Image

001069-asteroid shape model (1069) Planckia.png

via Wikidata · CC0