Q138111

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

V. Albitzkij

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

17 February 1925

Named after

Spiridon Zaslavskij , (discoverer's brother-in-law)

Alternative designations

1925 DB · 1931 FA, 1933 QK 1 · 1942 ED, 1950 OP · 1959 EZ, A922 SA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , background

Observation arc

95.12 yr (34,741 days)

Aphelion

3.4092 AU

Perihelion

2.9306 AU

Semi major axis

3.1699 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.64 yr (2,061 days)

Mean anomaly

104.05 °

Mean motion

0° 10 28.56 / day

Inclination

15.957°

Longitude of ascending node

158.82°

Argument of perihelion

4.4832°

Dimensions

50.73 ± 15.63 km , 51.96 ± 16.95 km , 55.08 ± 4.9 km , 55.17 km (derived) , 68.417 ± 0.584 km , 69.917 ± 1.110 km , 73.75 ± 1.44 km , 78.496 ± 27.90 km

Synodic rotation period

9.626 ± 0.002 h , 9.67 ± 0.01 h , 10.3 ± 0.03 h , 10.3 ± 0.3 h , 10.302 ± 0.001 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

68.417

Orbital period

2061.833521360602

via Wikidata · CC0