Q132926

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

J. Palisa

Discovery site

Vienna Obs.

Discovery date

14 September 1923

Named after

Gällivare (Swedish town)

Alternative designations

1923 OW · 1929 UJ, 1932 EP · 1951 QL

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis

Observation arc

93.54 yr (34,165 days)

Aphelion

3.7925 AU

Perihelion

2.5826 AU

Semi major axis

3.1875 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.69 yr (2,079 days)

Mean anomaly

248.01 °

Mean motion

0° 10 23.52 / day

Inclination

1.6043°

Longitude of ascending node

39.579°

Argument of perihelion

289.05°

Dimensions

22.10 ± 5.77 km , 22.71 ± 7.49 km , 25.992 ± 0.336 km , 26.87 ± 0.79 km , 35.73 ± 3.4 km , 35.76 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

11.32 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

25.992

Orbital period

2074.889913017897

Image

001073-asteroid shape model (1073) Gellivara.png

via Wikidata · CC0