Q136994

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

15 November 1931

Named after

Hans Osten, ( amateur astronomer )

Alternative designations

1931 VT · 1959 EF 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eos

Observation arc

84.41 yr (30,829 days)

Aphelion

3.2804 AU

Perihelion

2.7656 AU

Semi major axis

3.0230 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.26 yr (1,920 days)

Mean anomaly

88.892 °

Mean motion

0° 11 15 / day

Inclination

10.363°

Longitude of ascending node

20.129°

Argument of perihelion

43.856°

Dimensions

21.925 ± 0.632 km , 22.93 ± 1.3 km , 23.05 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

7.7 (dated) h , 8.4 h (dated) , 9.071 29 h , 9.071 29 ± 0.000 05 h , 9.073 ± 0.004 h

via Wikipedia infobox