Q137498

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

28 November 1932

Named after

Eugène Delporte , (Belgian astronomer)

Alternative designations

1932 WC · 1926 AA, 1928 RX · 1934 JD, A918 RA

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

98.84 yr (36,101 days)

Aphelion

2.4813 AU

Perihelion

1.9772 AU

Semi major axis

2.2292 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.33 yr (1,216 days)

Mean anomaly

33.180 °

Mean motion

0° 17 45.96 / day

Inclination

4.3970°

Longitude of ascending node

327.09°

Argument of perihelion

244.65°

Dimensions

9.611 ± 0.121 km , 10.384 ± 0.048 km , 12.85 km (calculated) , 12.95 ± 0.22 km

Synodic rotation period

5.5 ± 0.07 h , 5.615 ± 0.001 h , 5.6204 ± 0.0040 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

9.611

Orbital period

1215.290733374914

via Wikidata · CC0