Q136621

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

9 September 1929

Pronunciation

/ ɪ ˈ l ɪr i ə /

Named after

Illyria (region on the Balkans )

Alternative designations

1929 RL · 1962 WA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Eunomia · Maria

Observation arc

87.73 yr (32,045 days)

Aphelion

2.8628 AU

Perihelion

2.2591 AU

Semi major axis

2.5610 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.10 yr (1,497 days)

Mean anomaly

166.36 °

Mean motion

0° 14 25.8 / day

Inclination

14.963°

Longitude of ascending node

3.7920°

Argument of perihelion

4.6994°

Dimensions

12.73 ± 1.07 km , 13.85 ± 0.49 km , 13.88 km (calculated) , 13.977 ± 0.227 km , 14.767 ± 0.219 km

via Wikipedia infobox