Q138404

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

31 July 1935

Pronunciation

/ ˈ ɡ r iː k w ə /

Named after

Griqua people , (South African tribe)

Alternative designations

1935 QG 1 · 1931 BN

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Griqua · background , ACO

Observation arc

87.03 yr (31,788 d)

Aphelion

4.4123 AU

Perihelion

2.0213 AU

Semi major axis

3.2168 AU

Orbital period sidereal

5.77 yr (2,107 d)

Mean anomaly

16.650 °

Mean motion

0° 10 14.88 / day

Inclination

24.223°

Longitude of ascending node

121.34°

Argument of perihelion

261.82°

Mean diameter

25.60 ± 3.72 km , 26.936 ± 0.363 km , 28.36 ± 0.40 km , 29.90 ± 1.5 km , 29.9 ± 3.0 km , 30 ± 3 km , 31.0 km (radiometric)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

26.936

Orbital period

2101.882102703066

via Wikidata · CC0