Q137180

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

10 October 1931

Pronunciation

/ ɔː ˈ r ɪ k j ʊ l ə /

Named after

Primula auricula , (flowering plant)

Alternative designations

1931 TE 2

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

87.02 yr (31,785 d)

Aphelion

2.8988 AU

Perihelion

2.4388 AU

Semi major axis

2.6688 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.36 yr (1,593 d)

Mean anomaly

171.27 °

Mean motion

0° 13 33.96 / day

Inclination

11.483°

Longitude of ascending node

342.04°

Argument of perihelion

245.60°

Mean diameter

13.43 ± 4.67 km , 15.10 ± 3.67 km , 18.71 ± 0.65 km , 21.44 ± 0.81 km , 22.52 ± 1.8 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

18.713

Orbital period

1592.065328443743

Image

001231-asteroid shape model (1231) Auricula.png

via Wikidata · CC0