Q136657

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

20 January 1930

Named after

Sagas , ( Norse mythological stories )

Alternative designations

1930 BA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

87.49 yr (31,955 days)

Aphelion

3.3672 AU

Perihelion

3.0768 AU

Semi major axis

3.2220 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.78 yr (2,112 days)

Mean anomaly

237.48 °

Mean motion

0° 10 13.44 / day

Inclination

9.0146°

Longitude of ascending node

127.72°

Argument of perihelion

197.44°

Dimensions

26.29 ± 0.68 km , 29.11 ± 1.7 km , 32.429 ± 0.261 km , 33.94 ± 0.87 km , 38.113 ± 0.547 km

Synodic rotation period

9.278 ± 0.001 h , 9.365 ± 0.006 h , 9.394 ± 0.0192 h

via Wikipedia infobox