Q137903

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

G. van Biesbroeck

Discovery site

Yerkes Obs.

Discovery date

27 July 1933

Named after

Vassar College , ( Vassar Observatory )

Alternative designations

1933 OT · 1944 QE, A908 CD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Alauda

Observation arc

83.67 yr (30,562 days)

Aphelion

3.7605 AU

Perihelion

2.4268 AU

Semi major axis

3.0937 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.44 yr (1,988 days)

Mean anomaly

104.98 °

Mean motion

0° 10 51.96 / day

Inclination

21.901°

Longitude of ascending node

129.45°

Argument of perihelion

261.33°

Dimensions

27.56 ± 6.84 km , 32.70 ± 1.29 km , 36.28 ± 1.1 km ( IRAS :6) , 36.32 km (derived)

Synodic rotation period

7.931 89 ± 0.000 01 h , 7.931 90 ± 0.000 05 h , 7.932 ± 0.002 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

36.28

Orbital period

1993.050223392079

Image

001312-asteroid shape model (1312) Vassar.png

via Wikidata · CC0