Q136011

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

31 May 1929

Pronunciation

/ d ɪ ˈ m iː t ər /

Named after

Demeter (Greek mythology)

Alternative designations

1929 KA · 1963 MF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , Phocaea · background

Observation arc

88.65 yr (32,378 d)

Aphelion

3.0510 AU

Perihelion

1.8040 AU

Semi major axis

2.4275 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.78 yr (1,381 d)

Mean anomaly

139.57 °

Mean motion

0° 15 38.16 / day

Inclination

24.916°

Longitude of ascending node

234.25°

Argument of perihelion

78.109°

Mean diameter

25.285 ± 0.057 km , 25.35 ± 6.72 km , 25.61 ± 2.0 km , 27.316 ± 0.221 km , 27.333 ± 5.042 km , 31.06 ± 0.58 km , 31.33 ± 0.45 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

25.285

Orbital period

1383.198375223963

via Wikidata · CC0