Q137812

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. E. Wood

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

19 July 1928

Named after

Pongola River , (South Africa river)

Alternative designations

1928 OC · 1927 FD, 1929 SQ · 1932 FA, 1933 MB · 1979 NE

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

90.59 yr (33,087 days)

Aphelion

3.2336 AU

Perihelion

2.7909 AU

Semi major axis

3.0123 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.23 yr (1,910 days)

Mean anomaly

89.261 °

Mean motion

0° 11 18.6 / day

Inclination

2.3174°

Longitude of ascending node

62.956°

Argument of perihelion

146.96°

Dimensions

24.110 ± 0.277 km , 25.12 ± 0.91 km , 25.124 ± 0.200 km , 41.45 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

8 h , 8.03 h , 8.0585 ± 0.0003 h , 8.059 ± 0.0015 h , 8.06 ± 0.02 h , 8.335 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox