Q136967

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

5 October 1931

Named after

Anna Risi , (model of painter) , Anselm Feuerbach

Alternative designations

1931 TA · 1926 RH, 1978 AD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer )

Observation arc

90.24 yr (32,960 days)

Aphelion

3.6055 AU

Perihelion

2.1795 AU

Semi major axis

2.8925 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.92 yr (1,797 days)

Mean anomaly

137.21 °

Mean motion

0° 12 1.44 / day

Inclination

5.9706°

Longitude of ascending node

224.58°

Argument of perihelion

176.38°

Dimensions

31.80 ± 1.22 km , 32.59 ± 0.87 km , 35.06 km (derived) , 35.18 ± 3.9 km ( IRAS :2) , 35.92 ± 15.13 km , 37.91 ± 12.03 km

Synodic rotation period

15.6 ± 0.1 h (dated) , 18.54 ± 0.01 h , 25.80 ± 0.05 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

35.18

Orbital period

1788.709729772185

via Wikidata · CC0