Q136419

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

24 January 1930

Pronunciation

/ iː ˈ t oʊ l i ə /

Named after

Aetolia (Greek region)

Alternative designations

1930 BC · 1931 LC, 1937 LN · 1937 LU, 1942 GF · 1942 GS, 1943 PF · 1948 JS, 1948 KG · 1954 KJ, 1954 MU · 1958 BB, A902 GB · A907 CB, A908 GB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

115.24 yr (42,093 days)

Aphelion

3.4423 AU

Perihelion

2.9265 AU

Semi major axis

3.1844 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.68 yr (2,076 days)

Mean anomaly

90.209 °

Mean motion

0° 10 24.24 / day

Inclination

2.1096°

Longitude of ascending node

139.34°

Argument of perihelion

96.492°

Dimensions

22.135 ± 0.133 km , 23.764 ± 0.124 km , 24.92 ± 1.57 km , 27.10 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

22.135

Orbital period

2085.831819038062

via Wikidata · CC0