Q139129

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

30 October 1937

Named after

Sister of Bror Asplind , (Swedish astronomer)

Alternative designations

1937 UC · 1951 XH, 1967 EH · 1974 TX 1

Minor planet category

main-belt · ( outer ) , Gefion · background

Observation arc

79.92 yr (29,191 days)

Aphelion

3.2757 AU

Perihelion

2.3162 AU

Semi major axis

2.7960 AU

Orbital period sidereal

4.68 yr (1,708 days)

Mean anomaly

19.222 °

Mean motion

0° 12 38.88 / day

Inclination

8.2369°

Longitude of ascending node

321.57°

Argument of perihelion

93.975°

Dimensions

12.687 ± 0.209 km , 14.22 km (calculated) , 14.574 ± 0.247 km

Synodic rotation period

14 h

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Diameter

12.687

Orbital period

1709.790710476007

via Wikidata · CC0