Q137248

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

R. Schorr

Discovery site

Bergedorf Obs.

Discovery date

5 February 1932

Pronunciation

/ s ɛ n t ɪ ˈ n ɛər i ə /

Named after

Bergedorf Observatory , (100th anniversary)

Alternative designations

1932 CD · 1930 VA, 1930 XG · A915 RF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

87.85 yr (32,088 d)

Aphelion

3.3686 AU

Perihelion

2.3653 AU

Semi major axis

2.8670 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.85 yr (1,773 d)

Mean anomaly

123.27 °

Mean motion

0° 12 10.8 / day

Inclination

10.169°

Longitude of ascending node

323.71°

Argument of perihelion

24.117°

Mean diameter

50.28 ± 18.22 km , 56.87 ± 0.67 km , 58.85 ± 1.5 km , 63.035 ± 0.266 km , 70.946 ± 0.624 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

63.035

Orbital period

1772.486059395265

via Wikidata · CC0