Q136370

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

22 November 1929

Pronunciation

/ ˈ æ t ɪ k ə /

Named after

Attica Province , (province of Greece)

Alternative designations

1929 WF · 1954 GK

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

86.52 yr (31,600 days)

Aphelion

3.3801 AU

Perihelion

2.9104 AU

Semi major axis

3.1453 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.58 yr (2,037 days)

Mean anomaly

249.74 °

Mean motion

0° 10 36.12 / day

Inclination

13.971°

Longitude of ascending node

283.50°

Argument of perihelion

107.03°

Dimensions

23.681 ± 0.113 km , 30 ± 2 km (generic)

via Wikipedia infobox