Q135721

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

30 August 1927

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɔːr k ɪ s /

Named after

Orchis ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1927 QB · 1955 DT, A906 BH

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

111.76 yr (40,821 days)

Aphelion

3.0452 AU

Perihelion

1.7924 AU

Semi major axis

2.4188 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.76 yr (1,374 days)

Mean anomaly

278.54 °

Mean motion

0° 15 43.2 / day

Inclination

4.5873°

Longitude of ascending node

2.0437°

Argument of perihelion

57.028°

Mean diameter

20.755 ± 8.470 km , 21.797 ± 0.130 km , 21.86 ± 0.26 km , 22.918 ± 0.241 km , 23.28 ± 1.7 km , 23.53 ± 6.59 km , 24.62 ± 6.75 km

via Wikipedia infobox