Q137124

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

6 October 1931

Named after

Neckar (German river )

Alternative designations

1931 TG · 1930 MN, 1931 TA 1 · 1953 FC, A907 VD · A909 BD, A917 XC · A917 YA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Koronis

Observation arc

109.58 yr (40,025 d)

Aphelion

3.0395 AU

Perihelion

2.6977 AU

Semi major axis

2.8686 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.86 yr (1,775 d)

Mean anomaly

235.10 °

Mean motion

0° 12 10.44 / day

Inclination

2.5448°

Longitude of ascending node

40.812°

Argument of perihelion

15.444°

Mean diameter

22.783 ± 0.213 km , 23.06 ± 0.56 km , 24.68 ± 0.55 km , 25.736 ± 0.261 km , 26.07 ± 0.86 km , 27.96 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

7.763 h , 7.80 ± 0.06 h , 7.81 h , 7.821 24 h , 7.824 01 ± 0.000 05 h , 7.827 ± 0.0036 h , 8.6 h (wrong) , 8.78 h (wrong)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

22.783

Orbital period

1774.878926660205

Image

001223-asteroid shape model (1223) Neckar.png

via Wikidata · CC0