Q137401

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

23 March 1933

Pronunciation

/ ˈ l iː dʒ i ə /

Named after

Latin name for Liège , (Belgian city)

Alternative designations

1933 FB · 1938 CS, 1938 DH · 1944 FD, 1966 DG

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Themis · background

Observation arc

84.28 yr (30,785 days)

Aphelion

3.6992 AU

Perihelion

2.5758 AU

Semi major axis

3.1375 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.56 yr (2,030 days)

Mean anomaly

57.530 °

Mean motion

0° 10 38.28 / day

Inclination

2.4274°

Longitude of ascending node

67.282°

Argument of perihelion

104.64°

Dimensions

31.20 km (derived) , 31.26 ± 11.50 km , 31.28 ± 1.3 km , 32.13 ± 0.66 km , 32.576 ± 0.126 km , 35.324 ± 0.345 km , 36.56 ± 0.35 km

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

32.576

Orbital period

2028.077997724396

via Wikidata · CC0