Q135875

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

11 August 1928

Pronunciation

/ ˈ v ɪ s i ə , - ʃ i ə /

Named after

Vicia ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1928 PC · 1941 SO 2 , 1958 PF · 1978 BG, A907 VF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

109.40 yr (39,958 days)

Aphelion

3.4186 AU

Perihelion

1.8697 AU

Semi major axis

2.6441 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.30 yr (1,570 days)

Mean anomaly

274.05 °

Mean motion

0° 13 45.12 / day

Inclination

1.5332°

Longitude of ascending node

133.86°

Argument of perihelion

176.51°

Dimensions

19.63 ± 6.08 km , 21.02 km (derived) , 23.110 ± 0.118 km , 23.95 ± 1.04 km , 24.93 ± 0.54 km , 26.55 ± 0.35 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

23.11

Orbital period

1566.629593500991

via Wikidata · CC0