Q137478

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

10 October 1931

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɡ eɪ f i ɒ n / or / ˈ ɡ ɛ f i ɒ n /

Named after

Gefjon , (Norse mythology)

Alternative designations

1931 TZ 1 · A917 SF

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Gefion

Adjectives

Gefionian / ɡ ɛ f i ˈ oʊ n i ə n /

Observation arc

99.50 yr (36,344 days)

Aphelion

3.2076 AU

Perihelion

2.3604 AU

Semi major axis

2.7840 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.65 yr (1,697 days)

Mean anomaly

215.36 °

Mean motion

0° 12 43.92 / day

Inclination

8.4185°

Longitude of ascending node

321.56°

Argument of perihelion

3.6671°

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

6.965

Orbital period

1700.464317372549

via Wikidata · CC0