Q138018

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

C. Jackson

Discovery site

Johannesburg Obs.

Discovery date

19 May 1934

Named after

Tugela River , (South African river )

Alternative designations

1934 LD · 1974 HR 3 , 1974 KM · 1974 KO, A908 UB · A911 HC

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

109.02 yr (39,818 days)

Aphelion

3.7100 AU

Perihelion

2.7510 AU

Semi major axis

3.2305 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.81 yr (2,121 days)

Mean anomaly

234.50 °

Mean motion

0° 10 10.92 / day

Inclination

18.787°

Longitude of ascending node

45.241°

Argument of perihelion

136.10°

Dimensions

58.44 ± 3.4 km , 58.50 km (derived) , 62.00 ± 19.32 km , 63.45 ± 0.94 km , 67.76 ± 25.28 km , 78.295 ± 0.511 km , 90.557 ± 0.542 km , 110.11 ± 1.73 km

Synodic rotation period

19.50 ± 0.02 h , 19.777 ± 0.0365 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

78.295

Orbital period

2109.990644034118

via Wikidata · CC0