Q137435

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

H. van Gent

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

23 April 1930

Named after

Geertruid Hamerslag Pels , (Sister of astronomer Gerrit Pels )

Alternative designations

1930 HD · 1926 GV, 1927 SH · 1930 LA, 1954 TM 1 · 1965 HB, 1965 JE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( inner ) , background

Observation arc

91.55 yr (33,440 days)

Aphelion

2.9116 AU

Perihelion

2.0260 AU

Semi major axis

2.4688 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.88 yr (1,417 days)

Mean anomaly

136.63 °

Mean motion

0° 15 14.76 / day

Inclination

4.7825°

Longitude of ascending node

24.390°

Argument of perihelion

268.19°

Dimensions

15.621 ± 4.700 km , 16.92 ± 5.04 km , 17.16 ± 0.30 km , 18.91 ± 0.25 km , 20.92 ± 0.60 km , 23.108 ± 0.154 km , 23.41 ± 1.4 km , 23.43 km (derived) , 23.572 ± 0.153 km

Synodic rotation period

5.50 h , 5.5087 ± 0.0007 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

23.108

Orbital period

1419.165205954382

via Wikidata · CC0