Q136771

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

17 October 1930

Named after

unknown

Alternative designations

1930 UD · 1953 VK, 1957 KU · A907 VA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

109.91 yr (40,146 days)

Aphelion

3.4345 AU

Perihelion

2.9979 AU

Semi major axis

3.2162 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.77 yr (2,107 days)

Mean anomaly

61.257 °

Mean motion

0° 10 15.24 / day

Inclination

16.307°

Longitude of ascending node

237.19°

Argument of perihelion

102.79°

Dimensions

22.99 ± 0.85 km , 24.266 ± 0.276 km , 25.394 ± 0.250 km , 58.29 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

6.01 ± 0.02 h , 6.01 ± 0.03 h , 6.0136 ± 0.0002 h , 6.013 75 ± 0.000 05 h , 6.015 ± 0.001 h , 6.017 ± 0.001 h , 11.99 ± 0.03 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

24.266

Orbital period

2101.592881945923

Image

001175-asteroid shape model (1175) Margo.png

via Wikidata · CC0