Q136900

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

C. Jackson

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

13 May 1931

Named after

Aletta Jackson, (discoverer's wife)

Alternative designations

1931 JG · 1946 KC, 1962 SB

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

85.07 yr (31,072 days)

Aphelion

3.1812 AU

Perihelion

2.6452 AU

Semi major axis

2.9132 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.97 yr (1,816 days)

Mean anomaly

138.73 °

Mean motion

0° 11 53.52 / day

Inclination

10.870°

Longitude of ascending node

291.32°

Argument of perihelion

243.18°

Dimensions

41.358 ± 0.191 km , 42.67 ± 0.77 km , 46.371 ± 1.188 km , 55.22 ± 20.92 km , 55.23 km (derived) , 55.39 ± 1.4 km

Synodic rotation period

19.7 ± 0.1 h , 20.39 ± 0.01 h , 20.3903 ± 0.2170 h

via Wikipedia infobox