Q138862

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

8 January 1937

Named after

Ise Koch , (wife of astronomer) , Fritz Kubach

Alternative designations

1937 AK · 1933 FG, 1935 SZ 1 · 1951 GN, A900 UD

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( middle ) , background

Observation arc

116.70 yr (42,623 days)

Aphelion

2.8258 AU

Perihelion

2.5258 AU

Semi major axis

2.6758 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.38 yr (1,599 days)

Mean anomaly

250.81 °

Mean motion

0° 13 30.72 / day

Inclination

6.7090°

Longitude of ascending node

177.56°

Argument of perihelion

207.79°

Dimensions

34.62 ± 11.47 km , 34.66 ± 9.67 km , 35.34 km (derived) , 35.54 ± 1.7 km , 37.23 ± 0.48 km , 38.46 ± 8.82 km

Synodic rotation period

11.6426 ± 0.0007 h

via Wikipedia infobox