Q136144

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

S. Belyavskyj , N. Ivanov

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

29 August 1927

Named after

Alexis Hansky , (Russian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1927 QD · 1930 DK, 1935 BM

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

89.83 yr (32,810 days)

Aphelion

3.3560 AU

Perihelion

3.0694 AU

Semi major axis

3.2127 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.76 yr (2,103 days)

Mean anomaly

306.45 °

Mean motion

0° 10 16.32 / day

Inclination

13.952°

Longitude of ascending node

318.76°

Argument of perihelion

335.05°

Mean diameter

70.954 ± 0.220 km , 75.495 ± 1.037 km , 77.03 km (derived) , 77.20 ± 1.7 km , 79.80 ± 1.04 km , 82.14 ± 23.50 km , 82.70 ± 28.83 km , 90.29 ± 0.59 km

Synodic rotation period

15.61 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox