Q137148

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

5 October 1931

Pronunciation

/ dʒ ə ˈ r eɪ n i ə m /

Named after

Geranium , ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1931 TD · 1934 CL 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

86.14 yr (31,463 d )

Aphelion

3.8358 AU

Perihelion

2.6018 AU

Semi major axis

3.2188 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.77 yr (2,109 days)

Mean anomaly

23.697 °

Mean motion

0° 10 14.52 / day

Inclination

16.492°

Longitude of ascending node

0.7016°

Argument of perihelion

302.84°

Dimensions

41.46 km (derived) , 46.08 ± 0.80 km , 46.269 ± 0.140 km , 51.025 ± 0.535 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

46.269

Orbital period

2110.695694961804

via Wikidata · CC0