Q136780

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

15 November 1930

Named after

Lucidor (discoverer's friend and amateur astronomer)

Alternative designations

1930 VE · 1927 BF, 1971 BD 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle )

Observation arc

86.61 yr (31,633 days)

Aphelion

3.0768 AU

Perihelion

2.3054 AU

Semi major axis

2.6911 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.41 yr (1,613 days)

Mean anomaly

224.91 °

Mean motion

0° 13 23.88 / day

Inclination

6.6465°

Longitude of ascending node

272.24°

Argument of perihelion

156.29°

Dimensions

17.489 ± 0.528 km , 17.49 ± 0.53 km , 18.62 ± 0.20 km , 30.59 km (derived) , 30.65 ± 0.8 km , 31.32 ± 12.82 km , 31.48 ± 0.53 km

Synodic rotation period

4.075 ± 0.001 h , 4.0791 ± 0.0006 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

17.489

Orbital period

1614.009254410231

via Wikidata · CC0