Q137170

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

9 October 1931

Pronunciation

/ ˈ r aɪ s i ə /

Named after

Hugh Rice , (U.S. amateur astronomer)

Alternative designations

1931 TX 1 · 1964 TS, 1964 UE · 1975 HH

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

86.13 yr (31,459 days)

Aphelion

3.0335 AU

Perihelion

2.1104 AU

Semi major axis

2.5719 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.12 yr (1,507 days)

Mean anomaly

288.81 °

Mean motion

0° 14 20.4 / day

Inclination

10.515°

Longitude of ascending node

200.55°

Argument of perihelion

185.25°

Dimensions

6.194 ± 0.344 km , 7.46 km (calculated)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

6.194

Orbital period

1507.701288095527

Image

001230-asteroid shape model (1230) Riceia.png

via Wikidata · CC0