Q138433

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

M. F. Wolf

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

9 September 1928

Named after

Louis Henyey , (American astronomer)

Alternative designations

1928 RK · 1932 WL, 1941 ME · 1973 YG 4 , 1984 BA · A907 GK

Minor planet category

main-belt · Flora

Observation arc

109.96 yr (40,164 days)

Aphelion

2.5248 AU

Perihelion

1.9723 AU

Semi major axis

2.2486 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.37 yr (1,232 days)

Mean anomaly

238.80 °

Mean motion

0° 17 32.28 / day

Inclination

5.0758°

Longitude of ascending node

258.55°

Argument of perihelion

337.32°

Dimensions

10.31 ± 1.91 km , 10.958 ± 0.369 km , 11.31 km (calculated)

Synodic rotation period

18.986 ± 0.002 h , 32.2 ± 0.2 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

10.958

Orbital period

1231.740089972643

via Wikidata · CC0