Q137100

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

11 February 1932

Pronunciation

/ ˈ k r oʊ k ə s /

Named after

Crocus

Alternative designations

1932 CU · 1955 PC

Minor planet category

main-belt · Eos

Observation arc

85.31 yr (31,161 days)

Aphelion

3.2243 AU

Perihelion

2.7807 AU

Semi major axis

3.0025 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.20 yr (1,900 days)

Mean anomaly

204.16 °

Mean motion

0° 11 21.84 / day

Inclination

11.365°

Longitude of ascending node

113.34°

Argument of perihelion

333.41°

Dimensions

17.866 ± 0.175

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

17.866

Orbital period

1901.201698219902

Image

001220-asteroid shape model (1220) Crocus.png

via Wikidata · CC0