Q138471

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

K. Reinmuth

Discovery site

Heidelberg Obs.

Discovery date

31 August 1935

Named after

all female staff members of ARI

Alternative designations

1935 QK · 1928 DX, 1937 BD · 1944 QK, 1951 EW 1 · 1953 OM, 1953 PZ

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , Watsonia · Ceres trojan

Observation arc

89.18 yr (32,574 days)

Aphelion

3.1761 AU

Perihelion

2.3557 AU

Semi major axis

2.7659 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.60 yr (1,680 days)

Mean anomaly

243.89 °

Mean motion

0° 12 51.48 / day

Inclination

16.450°

Longitude of ascending node

327.45°

Argument of perihelion

88.484°

Dimensions

21.96 ± 0.72 km , 23.90 ± 0.53 km , 24.18 km (derived) , 26.491 ± 0.292 km , 27.724 ± 0.158 km , 31.17 ± 8.52 km

Synodic rotation period

15.25 ± 0.03 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

26.491

Orbital period

1681.133337590454

via Wikidata · CC0