Q137247

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

Christian Heinrich Friedrich Peters

Discovery date

23 August 1872

Pronunciation

/ æ l ˈ k ɛ s t iː /

Named after

Alcestis

Alternative designations

A872 QA

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

143.65 yr (52468 d)

Aphelion

2.8288 AU (423.18 Gm )

Perihelion

2.43166 AU (363.771 Gm)

Semi major axis

2.63022 AU (393.475 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

4.27 yr (1558.1 d )

Average orbital speed

18.34 km/s

Mean anomaly

343.779 °

Mean motion

0° 13 51.816 / day

Inclination

2.9573°

Longitude of ascending node

187.991°

Argument of perihelion

61.413°

Earth moid

1.41927 AU (212.320 Gm)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

88.648

Mass

470

Orbital period

1557.737967238946

Image

124Alkeste 20030624 (MultichordOccultation).jpg

via Wikidata · CC0