Q137112

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

11 June 1932

Named after

Tina (friend of the discoverer)

Alternative designations

1932 LA · 1955 HP

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Tina

Observation arc

84.40 yr (30,827 days)

Aphelion

3.4912 AU

Perihelion

2.0983 AU

Semi major axis

2.7947 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.67 yr (1,707 days)

Mean anomaly

31.083 °

Mean motion

0° 12 39.6 / day

Inclination

19.587°

Longitude of ascending node

245.80°

Argument of perihelion

59.912°

Dimensions

20.12 km (derived) , 20.84 ± 1.8 km , 25.781 ± 0.138 km , 26.28 ± 0.33 km , 28.667 ± 0.122 km

Synodic rotation period

12 h (dated) , 13.395 ± 0.003 h , 17.164 ± 0.003 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

25.781

Orbital period

1706.440067807591

via Wikidata · CC0