Q136191

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

11 September 1928

Named after

Natasha Tichomirova , (daughter of G. Neujmin )

Alternative designations

1928 RZ · A918 EK

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background · Astraea

Observation arc

87.68 yr (32,024 days)

Aphelion

2.9500 AU

Perihelion

2.1428 AU

Semi major axis

2.5464 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.06 yr (1,484 days)

Mean anomaly

285.31 °

Mean motion

0° 14 33.36 / day

Inclination

6.1646°

Longitude of ascending node

357.91°

Argument of perihelion

50.379°

Mean diameter

12.859 ± 0.443 km , 14.52 ± 0.54 km , 14.89 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

13.197 ± 0.003 h

via Wikipedia infobox