Q137291

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

M. Laugier

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

30 August 1932

Pronunciation

/ m ɪ ˈ m ɔːr i ə /

Named after

memoria , (Latin for memory; remembrance )

Alternative designations

1932 QA · 1927 UL, 1931 JU · 1936 FN, A905 WA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis

Observation arc

112.03 yr (40,920 days)

Aphelion

3.6792 AU

Perihelion

2.5851 AU

Semi major axis

3.1321 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.54 yr (2,025 days)

Mean anomaly

130.45 °

Mean motion

0° 10 40.08 / day

Inclination

1.7780°

Longitude of ascending node

161.73°

Argument of perihelion

139.43°

Dimensions

35.97 ± 1.9 km , 38.906 ± 0.174 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

38.906

Orbital period

2023.128459972683

via Wikidata · CC0