Q137007

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

22 April 1927

Named after

Niece of discoverer's friend

Alternative designations

1927 HA · 1950 JQ, 1963 UU

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Hygiea

Observation arc

90.20 yr (32,945 days)

Aphelion

3.5836 AU

Perihelion

2.7590 AU

Semi major axis

3.1713 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.65 yr (2,063 days)

Mean anomaly

302.93 °

Mean motion

0° 10 28.2 / day

Inclination

6.9333°

Longitude of ascending node

89.806°

Argument of perihelion

176.87°

Dimensions

21.73 ± 2.15 km , 26.889 ± 0.253 km , 26.986 ± 0.311 km , 40.33 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

8.5001 ± 0.0001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

26.889

Orbital period

2060.706664236997

via Wikidata · CC0