Q136203

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

G. Neujmin

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

21 September 1928

Named after

Harlow Shapley , (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

1928 ST · 1974 QQ 2 , 2016 FJ 6

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

87.81 yr (32,073 days)

Aphelion

2.5741 AU

Perihelion

1.8758 AU

Semi major axis

2.2250 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.32 yr (1,212 days)

Mean anomaly

207.68 °

Mean motion

0° 17 49.2 / day

Inclination

6.4212°

Longitude of ascending node

79.889°

Argument of perihelion

317.60°

Dimensions

10.93 ± 2.29 km , 11.282 ± 0.136 km , 12.003 ± 0.092 km , 12.08 km (taken) , 12.084 km , 12.32 ± 0.84 km

Synodic rotation period

20 h (dated) , 24 h (dated) , 52.92 ± 0.01 h

via Wikipedia infobox