Q138485

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

E. Delporte

Discovery site

Uccle Obs.

Discovery date

21 October 1935

Named after

Constructed female name, ("Rosi" spelled backwards)

Alternative designations

1935 UA

Minor planet category

Mars-crosser

Observation arc

81.05 yr (29,604 days)

Aphelion

2.8775 AU

Perihelion

1.6230 AU

Semi major axis

2.2502 AU

Orbital period sidereal

3.38 yr (1,233 days)

Mean anomaly

44.987 °

Mean motion

0° 17 31.2 / day

Inclination

5.2943°

Longitude of ascending node

302.56°

Argument of perihelion

60.988°

Earth moid

0.6290 AU

Dimensions

5.48 km (derived)

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Orbital period

1233.272253511163

via Wikidata · CC0