Q138641

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

P. Shajn

Discovery site

Simeiz Obs.

Discovery date

3 October 1935

Named after

Abastumani , ( Georgian town)

Alternative designations

1935 TA · 1926 GN, 1929 UL · A907 GN, A916 VA

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) background

Observation arc

86.80 yr (31,705 days)

Aphelion

3.5547 AU

Perihelion

3.3166 AU

Semi major axis

3.4356 AU

Orbital period sidereal

6.37 yr (2,326 days)

Mean anomaly

290.65 °

Mean motion

0° 9 17.28 / day

Inclination

19.932°

Longitude of ascending node

28.919°

Argument of perihelion

332.76°

Mean diameter

95.849 ± 2.283 km , 98.30 ± 2.03 km , 101.58 ± 2.3 km ( IRAS :12) , 107.827 ± 6.977 km

Synodic rotation period

17.100 ± 0.005 h

via Wikipedia infobox