Q136095

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

P. Shajn

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

15 August 1928

Named after

Ekaterina Iosko , (assistant at Simeiz Observatory)

Alternative designations

1928 QC · A909 DH

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

108.74 yr (39,719 days)

Aphelion

3.5537 AU

Perihelion

2.6687 AU

Semi major axis

3.1112 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.49 yr (2,004 days)

Mean anomaly

341.95 °

Mean motion

0° 10 46.56 / day

Inclination

13.280°

Longitude of ascending node

324.54°

Argument of perihelion

119.15°

Dimensions

38.20 ± 0.58 km , 38.50 ± 2.0 km , 38.65 km (derived) , 44.792 ± 0.626 km , 51.949 ± 1.531 km

Synodic rotation period

18 ± 1 h , 18.42 ± 0.02 h , 18.465 ± 0.010 h , 18.47 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

44.792

Orbital period

2010.456792239468

via Wikidata · CC0