Q135773

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 September 1927

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ær ə b ɪ s /

Named after

Arabis ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1927 RD · 1973 LB, A917 UE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Eos

Observation arc

89.40 yr (32,655 days)

Aphelion

3.2984 AU

Perihelion

2.7300 AU

Semi major axis

3.0142 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,911 days)

Mean anomaly

12.959 °

Mean motion

0° 11 17.88 / day

Inclination

10.061°

Longitude of ascending node

30.425°

Argument of perihelion

25.793°

Dimensions

31.67 km (derived) , 31.75 ± 2.5 km , 36.97 ± 0.50 km , 37.498 ± 0.493 km , 45.625 ± 0.588 km , 47.98 ± 0.80 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

37.498

Orbital period

1913.98765660119

Image

1087Arabis (Lightcurve Inversion).png

via Wikidata · CC0