Q136499

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

2 September 1929

Pronunciation

/ ə ˈ k aɪ ə / , / ə ˈ k eɪ ə /

Named after

Achaea (Greek region)

Alternative designations

1929 RB · 1955 SZ 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) background

Observation arc

86.78 yr (31,696 days)

Aphelion

2.6392 AU

Perihelion

1.7424 AU

Semi major axis

2.1908 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.24 yr (1,184 days)

Mean anomaly

348.01 °

Mean motion

0° 18 14.04 / day

Inclination

2.3929°

Longitude of ascending node

206.54°

Argument of perihelion

139.58°

Earth moid

0.7366 AU

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

7.689

Orbital period

1184.181348137834

Image

001150-asteroid shape model (1150) Achaia.png

via Wikidata · CC0