Q137199

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

/ k oʊ ˈ b r iː z i ə /

Named after

Kobresia ( flowering plant )

Alternative designations

1931 TG 2 · 1927 TB, 1951 QJ · 1951 RP 1 , 1954 EG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

90.15 yr (32,928 days)

Aphelion

2.6976 AU

Perihelion

2.4143 AU

Semi major axis

2.5560 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.09 yr (1,493 days)

Mean anomaly

117.22 °

Mean motion

0° 14 28.32 / day

Inclination

5.6024°

Longitude of ascending node

291.43°

Argument of perihelion

335.02°

Dimensions

29.73 ± 7.16 km , 30.239 ± 10.28 km , 31.46 ± 15.67 km , 33.323 ± 0.159 km , 33.45 km (derived) , 33.50 ± 0.8 km , 36.06 ± 0.60 km , 36.167 ± 0.249 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

33.323

Orbital period

1491.561706371511

via Wikidata · CC0